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How Will The Shocking Decline Of Christianity In America Affect The Future Of This Nation?

By Michael Snyder, on January 18th, 2012

Is Christianity in decline in America? When you examine the cold, hard numbers it is simply not possible to come to any other conclusion. Over the past few decades, the percentage of Christians in America has been steadily declining. This has especially been true among young people. As you will see later in this article, there has been a mass exodus of teens and young adults out of U.S. churches. In addition, what “Christianity” means to American Christians today is often far different from what “Christianity” meant to their parents and their grandparents. Millions upon millions of Christians in the United States simply do not believe many of the fundamental principles of the Christian faith any longer. Without a doubt, America is becoming a less “Christian” nation. This has staggering implications for the future of this country. The United States was founded primarily by Christians that were seeking to escape religious persecution. For those early settlers, the Christian faith was the very center of their lives, and it deeply affected the laws that they made and the governmental structures that they established. So what is the future of America going to look like if we totally reject the principles that this nation was founded on?

Overall, Christianity is still the largest religion in the world by far. According to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, there are currently 2.2 billion Christians in the world. So Christianity is not in danger of disappearing any time soon. In fact, in some areas of the globe it is experiencing absolutely explosive growth.

But in the United States, things are different. Churches are shrinking, skepticism is growing and apathy about spiritual matters seems to be at an all-time high.

Before we examine the data, let me disclose that I am a Christian. I am not bashing Christians or the Christian faith at all in this article. In fact, I consider the decline of Christianity in America to be a very bad thing. Not everyone is going to agree with me on that, but hopefully this article will help spark a debate on the role of religion in America that everyone can learn something from.

Unfortunately, the reality is that most Americans spend very little time thinking about religion or spiritual matters these days.

“The real dirty little secret of religiosity in America is that there are so many people for whom spiritual interest, thinking about ultimate questions, is minimal,” says Mark Silk, professor of religion and public life at Trinity College”

This is backed up by the numbers. For example, a survey taken last year by LifeWay Research found that 46 percent of all Americans never think about whether they will go to heaven or not.

To most Americans, faith is simply not a big deal. This is particularly true of our young people. Those under the age of 30 are leaving U.S. churches in droves. The following comes from a recent CNN article….

David Kinnaman, the 38-year-old president of the Barna Group, an evangelical research firm, is the latest to sound the alarm. In his new book, “You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church and Rethinking Faith,” he says that 18- to 29-year-olds have fallen down a “black hole” of church attendance. There is a 43% drop in Christian church attendance between the teen and early adult years, he says.

But it isn’t just young people that are leaving American churches. The proportion of Americans that consider themselves to be Christians has been steadily declining for many years. Back in 1990, 86 percent of all Americans considered themselves to be Christian. By 2008, that number had dropped to 76 percent.

Meanwhile, the number of Americans that reject religion entirely has absolutely soared. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Americans with “no religion” more than doubled between 1990 and 2008.

So what is going to happen if these trends continue?

Dave Olson, the director of church planting for the Evangelical Covenant Church, has made some really interesting projections regarding what is going to happen to church attendance in America if current trends continue.

According to Olson, only 18.7 percent of all Americans regularly attend church right now. If this number continues to decline at the current pace, Olson says that the percentage of Americans attending church in 2050 will be about half of what it is today.

Other research has produced similar results.

According to a study done by LifeWay Research, membership in Southern Baptist churches will fall nearly 50 percent by the year 2050 if current trends persist.

If you are a Christian, you should be quite alarmed by these numbers.

But what is happening to the faith of our young people should be even more alarming for Christians.

The American Religious Identification Survey by the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society & Culture at Trinity College is one of the most comprehensive studies on religion in America that has ever been done.

But the move away from religion is particularly pronounced among our young people.

One recent survey found that 25 percent of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 say that they have no religion.

Obviously the Christian faith is not winning the battle for the hearts and the minds of our young people. The cold, hard truth is that in America today, the younger you are, the less likely you are to consider yourself to be a Christian.

Large numbers of young Americans that went to church while they were growing up are now leaving U.S. churches entirely. A recent study by the Barna Group discovered that nearly 60 percent of all Christians between the ages of 15 and 29 are no long actively involved in any church.

But not only have they left the church, our young people have also abandoned just about all forms of Christian spirituality.

The reality is that they are also rejecting the fundamental principles of the Christian faith.

One survey conducted by the Barna Group found that less than 1 percent of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 23 hold a Biblical worldview.

The Barna Group asked participants in the survey if they agreed with the following six statements….

1) Believing that absolute moral truth exists.
2) Believing that the Bible is completely accurate in all of the principles it teaches.
3) Believing that Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic.
4) Believing that a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or by doing good works.
5) Believing that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth.
6) Believing that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today.

Less than 1 percent of the participants agreed with all of those statements.

That is staggering.

But it is not just young adults that are rejecting the fundamentals of the Christian faith.

Even large numbers of “evangelical Christians” are rejecting the fundamental principles of the Christian faith.

For example, one survey found that 52 percent of all American Christians believe that “at least some non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal life”.

Another survey found that 29 percent of all American Christians claim to have been in contact with the dead, 23 percent believe in astrology and 22 percent believe in reincarnation.

Without a doubt, the religious landscape of America is changing.

Over the past several decades, church attendance has been steadily declining, the percentage of Americans that consider themselves to be Christians has been going down, and the number of people that hold traditional Christian beliefs has been dropping like a rock.

Since God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow we can look at what happened to Israel when they strayed from his instruction.

In an age where everything is customized, religion (yes I said religion, not relationship) has become another item Americans customize in an attempt to trail blaze their own path to God.

Even within the church I have seen significant changes in the last thirty years. Bible study has taken a backseat to practically everything these days. I leave the house at 6AM Thursday morning to walk 45 minutes to lead a Bible study at a local university where several men in my church work, but even when it is in the same building most of them often have other priorities. The most recent excuse was they start work early every day so they can work a four day week.

The difference between Charles Stanley and his son Andy highlight the changes in attitude. Charles funded every building project through savings whereas Andy funds every one through debt. Debt is not longer something to avoid.

The scripture did not change. We changed our interpretation of it to justify our own desires. We read that the love of money is the root of all evil, but have forgotten that no one loves money more than he who is willing to borrow it.

Meranda

Pastor- You are right my brother. All of us Christians need some of that straight talk. So, thank you for mentioning that of your bible study.

I am reading Bruce D Allen’s book – Glazing Into Glory where he talks about having an intense desire for God and how many answers to prayer are from that passion for seeking him out. His book is for those who are truly seeking more of the supernatural gifts from God. He (YAHWEH) IS THE word, so we need to study it.

In Rebecca Browns book, she mentioned that she was called to get up at 1 am, (or some very early time)to pray and fast for Gods intervention, and she was called to do this for a long period of time. Would any Christian do this for Gods presence in their lives? Before Bill Schnoebelen became a Christian, and was deeply involved in witchcraft, he would get up and (pray)several hours before going to work for darkness. Witches even devote more time for their works than the modern Christian. More than ever we have so many choices that lead us away from the word, such as tv, hobbies and entertainment, that we give God our very last. Although, more than ever we are seeing many Christians choose to become more set apart for Yahweh. We are seeing more Christians divorce themselves from the world. A large awakening is happening, where there is going to be worldly Christians, and also Christians who walk much like the early disciples did. So we have some exciting times ahead of us to look forward to. We will be able to do even greater works than Yeshua himself, because he said so.

Luke 16:16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.

I think the keys are in this scripture. We need to fight our way into it, force our way into it, and make it a passionate desire to do so. Yahweh loves all of his children, as he is a NOT a respecter of persons. Although, some Christians will be able to raise the dead, heal the sick, and feed thousands with little food, because they have developed faith and an anointing from spending time with God. I always love to see Strong Christians read this site. Huge Blessings to you my brother!

mark

This is sad and our countries values could change for the worse. One change that might happen with the comming economic collaspe is that stubborn pride that to many harbor will fall away and more might soften their hearts and come unto Christ. We can always hope and pray for positive change.

TJ Jackson

There can be morality without religion. There can be social consciousness without Jesus. There can be order and progress without churches. We can function successfully without a bible. I imagine that there will come a time when we will give it a try.

D. Kline

ummmmmmmmm……..wrong. Show it to me in Society. We can’t even do those things WITH JESUS how can we do them without him?

Colin

Good luck with that thought process. The Mayans were still cutting each others’ heart out in the name of a higher power before the “Conquistadores” came to shore. Is that what you were thinking?

Bungadim

…We need to shoot for a higher standard.

ken H.

amen

KyTim89

I watched an episode of that show Curb Your Enthusiasim with Larry David where he urinates on a portriat of Jesus Christ and and old religous women thinks that the painting actually crying and runs off to church to pray. Now, if that had been a portriat of Mohammed, or any other religous figure, then there would be a manjor backlash against any who thought it up. However, the christian faith is constantly rediculed in the media and entertainment. People have a right to beleive whatever they see fit, but no one shoudl be ridicued for their beliefs either.

Look at how Ron Paul was booed for suggesting that we have a foriegn policy based on the Golden Rule.

WM

The interesting thing is that Jesus promised that his followers would be mocked, hated, killed, etc. for following him. This kind of antagonism against Christianity should not surprise us at all. In fact, I am actually surprises it has taken this long to start happening in America. Too many Americans think that somehow our freedoms given by our founding fathers and the Christian heritage of this nation, somehow will prtect us from persecution.

BUdell

Look around. Christians make up 75% of the American population. Most of our elected officials are Christians. Your beliefs influence public policy. And you dare cry ‘persecution!’? Give me a break. Go to Afghanistan and you’ll understand what it really means to be persecuted for your beliefs.

We live in a scientific age. There is no depth to people any more, no soul searching, no reflecting and still, most think they can reason. Where is God, what is God? Where is the proof? I think people believe too much in the symbolism of a church, the physical building to be the proof they need of their belief. My wife grew up in the church and a question I’ve asked her is, “can you keep the faith of what you believe without setting foot in the building”. She’s perplexed by this. She can’t separate the two, church is the building. Proof for her is the actual location she goes to worship and with a community of followers that support her view, not what she carries in her heart. There is no connection to what is being dispensed in the church. I stopped going a while ago. Why go when all you do is sit for an hour and listen to a guy regurgitate his view of the good book? Where is the exchange? Where is the dialogue? Next time you’re sitting in the pews, take a second to look around you at all the people sitting there glassy eyed, waiting for the hour to be up. Then they mope about after the service like a night club closed. Unfortunately, there is no passion, no original dialogue, therefore no connection. Just my two cents.

Semper Fi

WM

Thank you for your two cents. I am a very similar position. My wife also likens the church to a building. If she does not “go to” church she feels guilty. Sadly,I have stopped attending “church” for a season also, having a VERY difficult time finding a fellowship(church) that is not in compromise and apostacy and not a seeker friendly,peace & prosperity preaching, void of any mention of sin or repentance in their evangelizing.

Decades of the church losing its salt and preaching a seeker friendly, life enhancing “gospel” has ended in the dead, lifeless, Laodician system that they call “Christianity”

Colin

You think too much. If you go, go for yourself and battle your faith. If not, then you don’t need to rationalize why……

Thomas

That is why the Gospel of Thomas has been denied for so long by the church. It teaches that Jesus doesn’t have to be a building, but just you and him is all you need, and to be honest, isn’t that correct?

D. Kline

I like your brain!

http://TheEconomicCollapse David of OK

“And it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers,… houses full of all good things…when you have eaten and are full (obese) — then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of… the house of bondage (in your native lands and in your own life in bondage to sin).” (Deut.6:10-12)
I guess one of the reasons I as a pastor have become a believer in economic collapse, is I really don’t see any other way to shake people of the addiction to materialism. It must be taken away to wake people up to the reality that this life is not forever.
I will be there, not with hell fire and damnation sermons, but with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Adam

Another great article. I am a member of the Philadelphia Church of God and I invite all the readers of this blog to check out our website at http://www.thetrumpet.com
Godspeed

Owen

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” (2 Thess:2:3)

Worldwide, Christians are not nearly as plentiful as we are told. Endeavor to be saved by faith, and acknowledge that your very faith is a gift from God.

NWO Alert

So what does all of this mean for the future of America?

BLENDING ALL RELIGIONS…THE OLD RELIGIONS WILL HAVE TO GO

But the major religions of today have to be changed because they are not compatible with the changes to come.

The old religions will have to go. Especially Christianity. Once the Roman Catholic Church is brought down, the rest of Christianity will follow easily.

Then a new religion can be accepted for use all over the world. It will incorporate something from all of the old ones to make it more easy for people to accept it, and feel at home in it.

Most people won’t be too concerned with religion. They will realize that they don’t need it.

This article is a pretty accurate picture of what is happening among the youth in the American Church today.

I sent my 2 christian daughters to a Baptist college, the same one I attended over 30 years ago. Both were challenged yet came away with a deeper commitment to Christ as a result. I really believe a large part of the problem lies with our public educational system. My girls were home schooled, attended private school and spent a few years in a specialized charter school. I am very proud of my girls, to say the least, but I must give a great deal of credit to their teachers and so on. They were led in the way that they should go, and it was a blessing to them.

Of course it helps if the parents of these young people practice what they preach. My wife and I have tried to be faithful to God our whole lives. Yes we failed some, but for the most part we lived out our commitment to Christ in and out of our home.
Today’s youth are also bombarded with temptation in a way that many could not imagine 30 years ago. There is no wonder my hair is grey and I feel like I’ve lived much longer than I have. But, I am thankful for my girls who both teach young people how to live a happy life devoted to Christ. There is hope for us yet.

whens dinner?

We are in the last days, thats how i sum this article up. There are millions of people who are falling away from their faith.

David

I would be very interested in some discussion regarding precisely why this decline is occurring. What has changed from generations past, that the Church is in such decline?

Is it just that the Gospel, as presented by most churches, simply can’t compete with the flashy/trashy glitz of modern media/technology?

WM

It is because the evangelistic preaching is void of the LAW. You do not give someone the good news until you give them the bad news. The law should be a schoolmaster to bring sinners to repentance. They need to know WHY they need a savior before they get the good news. Like Jesus said, don’t cast pearls to swine and dogs.

I would highly recommend you check out the messages ” True and False Converts” and “God Has a Wonderful Plan For Your Life” both by Ray Comfort of livingwaters ministries.

For those who are looking for a rock concert, and those churches that cater to that crowd, will get church attendance. Although what happens, is those believers tend to leave, because they are there for entertainment only. Those Christians who start off in that church and want the REAL meat, often leave because they know that is not the true gospel.

There is a mass migration to home studies now, because many Churches are way off base. Most Christians don’t want to sit in a lukewarm church with no power.

Churches who keep Christmas, and hold Halloween parties ARE NOT going to see ANY move of God.

I think many passionate Christians are keeping an eye of what is going on in Africa and some of the other countries such as China. Why is the power of God moving in great miracles in these countries? It is because the people are seeking him out first and with a passion.

I truly think many young people are getting involved in Witchcraft because of the supernaturalism that they experience. Yet, the Church can see 10 times as much of these sort of occurences, but the church doesn’t or CANNOT produce them. They are knee deep in sin, and have no personal relationship with God.

I have sit in many services where prayer, and fasting, are not even on the plate EVER!! Speaking in tongues is considered to be WAY out there, so it is no wonder there is no glue that holds the attentions of most believers.

Sid Roth weekly features guests on his show who are moving in the greater gifts. Many Christians are leaving the lukewarm churches and gathering together with like minded believers.

There comes a point, where you just don’t want anything to do with the ways of the world, much like creating a barrier to the wind so your fire doesn’t go out.

We live in interesting times, and I do think very exciting times are ahead.

David

I think it’s a combination of different factors. I think the first step was for the overall church to get too “comfortable”. Here in the USA, we have enjoyed one of the few respites in world history from anti-Christian persecution. The curve that Satan threw at us, however, was prosperity. The American Church has become the most prosperous, well-off group of believers the world has ever seen. In short, we have been able to partake of the world’s luxuries while still professing our faith. I wonder if maybe Satan might have deliberately called off his “hounds” long enough for us to get too “comfortable”. If he did, then it was probably a decision that he made at some point late in the 19th Century, after he failed to split our nation with the Civil War, if not even earlier. It wasn’t long afterward that the Industrial Revolution began and made America the richest, most powerful nation the world has ever seen. I wonder if this might have been by design. Since then, we American Christians have enjoyed a level of prosperity that is unique in the Church’s history – and therein lies the hook/bait.

Now, today, having gotten so “comfortable” with our prosperity, it is difficult indeed to see beyond the physical and financial luxuries that we have been enjoying, and to remember that there is an eternal spiritual component to our existence that is even more foundational than our bodies. To use the Apostle Paul’s footrace analogy, we have “taken our eyes off the prize” and have instead turned them to the cheering crowd. We are so busy waving at the stands that we haven’t even noticed Satan stepping up the pace in the next lane over. By the time we bother turning our eyes back to the race, Satan will already be crossing the finish line and will be putting his “man of perdition” in place.

So, bottom line, I think the American Church has allowed ourselves to become distracted enough to be outfoxed by Satan. Fortunately, we individuals still have the God-given privilege or choosing whether or not we will allow ourselves to be caught up in all that.

mondobeyondo

This country needs God more than ever now.

Without Him, this country is… merde. (Which is the French word for “merde”.)

mondobeyondo

The English translation is:

“Change you can believe in!”

mondobeyondo

Riddle me this:

To those of you who don’t believe hell exists:
Why would our Savior Jesus give his life on a cross? Because He felt like it?
No!!!
He did that to give us an escape route out. He willingly sacrificed His life, so that humanity would not spend eternity, um, elsewhere. Why?

I’m not an expert on the Scriptures, but here goes.
All men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Being good won’t get you to heaven. Your (self) righteousness is like a filthy rag comparied to God’s holiness. Read the chapter of Job. This dude Job was a righteous man, no doubt about that. His problem was that he was SELF righteous! At the end of the chapter, God gives Job a good butt kicking and reminds him of who really is in charge. Oh yeah, He also rewards Job with some great blessings too.

If we believe in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, who died, and rose from the grave in 3 days – and ask Him to forgive our sins, we won’t end up in hell.(John 3:16 is well known, but John 3:17 is even more pertinent. Not many people realize this).

Ahhh, so you don’t believe in hell? Well, why would there be the need for a Savior, if there was nothing to be saved from? If there was no hell, why would we need to be saved from something that doesn’t exist? There is much, much more to this. Read your Bible. If you don’t have a Bible, buy one.

Just my viewpoints. Yours may differ, in fact, yours probably will differ. But that’s okay.

Why would god, over the course of human history, create billions of people only to have the majority of them go to hell when they die?

Christianity makes up about 1/6th of the current world population. According to most sects of christianity, only good christians go to heaven. If you belong to the wrong religion, you go to hell. If you belong to the wrong sect of christianity, you go to hell. That means that a majority of the people alive today are already going to hell. Why would a good and just god do that?

What if you die, and go before god, and he says “I have seen that in your entire lifetime, you were a good and just person. You gave to the needy, you helped the poor, you taught the bible to all that you could. However, you worshipped the god of [insert your religion here], which is not correct. Therefore, you go to hell.”

Religion is simply a tool of control. It dulls the masses into complacency with threats of eternal damnation. Those threats are so strong that most people think twice about undertaking major crimes/sins.

Me, personally, when I’m dead and gone…that’s it. I cease to be, I cease to exist. There is no garden, there is no burning pit of fire. And you know what, that’s perfectly fine with me. It’s the cycle of life. I don’t need the promises or threats from religion to do good in the world. I live each day knowing fully that it just may be my last. And, knowing that when you die, that’s it…you have a better appreciation for life; your own life and the lives of people around you. Just look at the horrors people commit due to thinking there is some paradise after death. If every potential suicide bomber knew there was no afterlife, they would never blow themselves up.

Think about it, from a logical standpoint.

Owen

Why? Free will. Each of us pick our own fate, our own ultimate destination. There will be multitudes who will enjoy God’s creation the way God intended it to be before sin intervened to create this present evil age. I am absolutely totally convinced that Jesus redeemed all humanity from the curse of sin but it avails not for those who refuse to accept by faith what Jesus did for them personally.

WM

“Those threats are so strong that most people think twice about undertaking major crimes/sins.”

And that’s a bad thing??????? Sounds like that “thinking twice” is probably a good thing for society. Your presuppositions are based on earning your way to Heaven. The Bible says that we ar already condemned, and Jesus spoke more about hell than heaven. Do you think Jesus was a good teacher?

D. Kline

You said the same thing below so, I will repeat myself a bit too. If I committed horrible acts in your name would that make you a bad person OR make anything you believe true or false? NO. So, I think your point is malformed.

Faith and religion are 2 different things. Religion is a group of people who create organizations around the faith of others. They buy buildings, raise money, do things both good and bad. In the end, religions are only tools used by people to express themselves and often end up becoming corrupt.

Faith, on the other hand, is an individual experience and not religion. Faith is simply a core set of beliefs based on God that form the way a person sees the world and behaves in it.

I find organized religion a fraud for the most part but, I have great faith.

r.bitting

I would add to D.Kline that faith is not blind, but supported by evidence and reason. You demonstrated this when you logged on to this site. You assumed ( by faith, because you were’nt looking at it )that the site would be there when you logged on. You had previous evidence that the site existed and reason led you to believe that it still did exist. Faith in Christ is also based on evidence and reason.

BUdell

What evidence? Last I knew the only evidence for belief in god was a 2000+ year old book with no supporting texts.

Nexus789

Religion is the biggest con in human history. Anybody with modicum of intelligence would realise this. The Earth and humans are one incredibly small speck in an infinitely massive universe. To assume that we are more than that is incredibly arrogant.

Ridiculous! It’s this very fact that points to a God. Even Einstein acknowledged this fact. He called the Universe a infinitely complex watch and said that there was so much order in the universe that there had to be a “watchmaker”. Acknowledging a creator is the opposite of arrogance…it is supremely humbling. Imagine a sentient insect staring up at a human. Would that make him humble or arrogant? I think you have it flipped!

xander cross

No, you are wrong. Again, you just don’t have evidence of a creator or a deity. You just believe what you were taught as a child. You cannot prove a negative. Okay, lets say a deity exists, which one does exist? Shiva, Ra, Isis, Thor, pagan gods or your christian god. Then we get to holy wars again. Sorry, you have no evidence that your god exists.

r.bitting

Xander cross, Please produce the evidence that he does not exist. Simply laying the question at the feet of christians will not due, you also must provide a basis on which to believe that atheism ( which is a religon as well ) is fact. I will check back.

Xander cross

No, you have you prove that your god exists since you said that it does. The burden of proof is on you, not me. Also you have to prove which god exists like the Viking gods, black (Egyptian gods) pagan gods, and Hindu gods. Until then, you have no evidence that your god exists.

r.bitting

I have presented many times on this site many different evidences for Gods existence, but have yet to read even one bit from you to prove that he does not. This tells me that you don’t really understand WHY you believe what you believe. You just say that God does not exist ( THATS NOT EVIDENCE, THATS A COP OUT ). If you have a worldview, then lets here it, I state what I believe here every day, and why. Why don’t you?

Follower of Jesus

I repute you, the reason you are living is because my God, but if you don’t want to believe then don’t, you’ll just suffer the consequences when Jesus condemns you and you burn in hell forever.

Rob in the Grove

Christians are meant to be salt of the earth which preserves society against rot and decay. They function as salt only when they are radically committed to Christ in a life of faith and repentance. If the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. This is what Jesus said 2000 years ago. This is what is happening to Christianity in North America: the churches are no longer salty and so will be thrown out and trampled underfoot. See Matthew 5.

Colin

I see that people equate morality with religion, and that if one doesn’t exist, then the other doesn’t exist. I think this belief is wrong.

There have been individuals who had strong moral principles who weren’t religious. As an example, there was the noted Republican Charles T. Beaird. According to Wikipedia, he was an “…industrialist, newspaper publisher, philanthropist, and civic leader.” Mr. Beaird was a strong advocate for civil rights.

Another strong figure on the right who was an atheist was Heath MacDonald who preached secular conservatism, and openly stated that conservatism doesn’t need God.

These are just two examples of historical figures on the right who didn’t believe in a God, and who practiced morality without the benefits of religion.

I may not agree with their notions of morality, but I accept they did have a strong moral core at the heart of their personality.

I believe that morality exists in one’s character before one is introduced to religion.

I think that what is happening in our culture is that when a people begin to reject or leave an institution, then that institution is no longer serving a function in society and hasn’t changed to meet the needs of its current and future members.

An extreme example of this is Judaism which is declining rapidly in this country, and will be extinct in this country as a religion by century’s end.

For me, one of the reasons that I find religion in this country so repulsive is that there are individuals in this country who hide their hatred of other races and sexism in the cloak of their religiosity. As I am writing this, Republican legislators in New Hampshire are working to defund Planned Parenthood and to curtail the protections accorded to victims of domestic abuse based partially on their religious beliefs.

r.bitting

No, YOU equate morality with religion. The reason Christ came was because NO MAN, NOT EVEN YOUR ” historical figures ” would be able to live up to Gods standard, which is perfection. As for Christianity and Judaism becoming extinct soon, You remind me of another man who said that, I believe his name was Voltaire. He said the same sort of thing, 100 years after he died, they were printing bibles in his house.

Caitlin

Planned parenthood is simply eugenics used against people of color. Wake up.

D. Kline

You find religion repulsive because some people use religions to hide their hatred of others? Well, that would make you normal but, not necessarily correct. There are plenty of people who give up their lives to help others in the name of religion as well. Mother Theresa slaved in the poverty ravaged villages of India. There are plenty of others as well. I think you should be more honest with yourself. I think you are hiding behind your contempt of the religious in order to hide your prejudiced opinions.

r.bitting

Morality cannot exist apart from God. In order to have morals one has to know whats right and whats wrong. There has to be an OBJECTIVE standard, apart from man, a standard of perfection and goodness, in order to know what evil is. If there is no OBJECTIVE standard that exists apart from man, then all you have are subjective standards ( personal preference ). One person can say he thinks rape is o.k, while another thinks its a crime worthy of death. Who decides whats right and wrong in society. If theres such a thing as evil, then there also has to be a such a thing as good, if good and evil exist then there also has to be a moral law in which to base it on, and if there is a moral law then there has to be a moral law giver.

D. Kline

Your brain is showing! :-)

Just my opinion but….you won’t get through to most people BECAUSE…..they don’t want to accept a universal truth. They will self delude themselves until there is no turning back and they have become hardened to the spirit of God reaching out to them.

The fact is that because we are made in God’s image we make “rules”. If there were no God then humanity would be based on survival of the fittest but it is not. We think it’s wrong to take what is not yours, to kill the innocent etc. That is because we are God’s children and we make rules of proper behavior just as he does. There is a universal standard of right and wrong and the fact that we make rules proves it….even if we get it wrong sometimes.

Michael

What does all of this mean for the future of America?

It means there isn’t one.

I am convinced tha the USA has passed the point of no return. The US is heading for destruction. Her time is over.

bob-bob-bob

I agree with the author on what he has written here . However I also want to point out some good reasons for not going to church . First many pastors preach a “watered down” virson of the Bible , I don’t meen to say that I need to hear hell fire and brimstone but I do expect to hear the truth and that is not happening in most churches . Next many churches and church goers seem to get into your personal affairs and want to know everything that you do, This offends me greatly . Churches today seem to have turned a blind eye to sin and ignore it, the truth is to follow Jesus example to love the sinner but to hate the sin . What I do for christian fellowship is to go to certin web sites and chat with fellow christians . I pray every day at any time that I feel compelled to do so . I will leave those of you who read this with the following that one of the christians I chat with said : ” The time to pray for GOD’S blessings is over , the time to pray for his MERCY is upon us . “

Meranda

“First many pastors preach a “watered down” version of the Bible , I don’t mean to say that I need to hear hell fire and brimstone but I do expect to hear the truth and that is not happening in most churches”

You are so right! What church do you know is preparing their believers for the end days? How many churches teach the evidence for Christianity and how you can share the gospel? Most do not. A service should be full of fire, yet it is not.

You mentioned that you go online to fellowship with other believers. Many people are getting together in small groups and studying the heck out of the word. Actually this is what the original church looked like. Small groups allow you to study the word, and flip through the bible where YOU HAVE to participate and learn the word first hand. Sitting there and enjoying a presentation doesn’t allow you to learn.

God does promise that if we keep the commandments we will ride the high hills. He will take care of us and BLESS US in a storm of destruction.

xander cross

This is so funny. I like how you all can claim that you know what a god thinks. Like how people say that they know what a spirit is. The bottom line is very simple, you don’t have any evidence that a deity exist.

William

Christianity in America is under attack by the very same group that destroyed the Orthodox churches in Russia. This group HATES Christians. Most in America have no real grasp of the TRUTH, and are so stubbornly brain dead that they REFUSE to accept facts.
This group of Christian Haters is now attacking Putin as he is the only one on the planet to stand up and defeat the haters. I have read in many sources that it will be RUSSIA which saves Christianity. That is difficult to swallow, I know, but, after viewing events for over 60 years, I now believe it.

Mike

Believe it or not, the truth is that america will soon have religious based laws enacted. This story represents the ripe enviornment for such laws. The removal of the constitution was nesessary for their implimentation. Europeans need time and persuasion to accept these laws. Americans need an emotional trigger. (911 sound familiar?)

Michael

Goodbye, Christianity! :)
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!

r.bitting

Funny you should mention the Christians leaving through an open door, I read that too, in the book of Revelation.

D. Kline

I read that they get beheaded….don’t delude yourself. The beast overcomes the saints.

r.bitting

In Rev. CH. 9, All but the 144,000 jews from ch. 7 that recieved the mark from God were tormented. Understanding of course, that ch. 9 is referring to the tribulation period, are you saying ( because you are not one of the 144,000 ) that God intends to torment you as well for 5 months? Also, the Church is not mentioned from ch. 4 to ch. 19, why? If there is no rapture, and God clearly states in 1 Thess. CH. 4 & 1 Cor. 15 that there will be some who are taken while they are still alive, then it seems to me that you are going to have a bit of a transportation problem when it comes time for you to be taken home, assuming you are alive at the time of Christs return as the bible clearly states some will be. Many take issue with the rapture because they view it as an escapist theology, but I personally believe that we here in America will have our faith tested by the fall of America, to see whether we will depart from the faith when the Lord ” taketh away ” the blessings we have enjoyed for so long. The rapture is a sensitive issue, but don’t think that i’m attacking you on it, i’m not. If you don’t believe in it, we’re still family. God bless you and your family.

vancouver mark

that’s one of the wiser and lovlier comments I’ve read in a long time,r.bit. Let’s you and me be family, too.

n. daniels

I am the pastor of a small congregational Church and though I hate to say it, you are absolutely correct. Church attendance is no longer important to the majority of Christians. Church is the place to go if there is absolutely nothing else to do and nowhere else to go. Our lives are so bound up in self-service and having fun and entertaining ourselves that we forget that we are called by our maker to forsake ourselves an take up our cross and follow Jesus. Church never has been and never will be about us…rather it is an opportunity to fulfill our mission and be a blessing to our brethren. The younger ones have no faith because they have witnessed how little faith their parents had. It is heartbreaking to watch but only reinforces our calling. For those who truly belong to Christ there is only one thing paramount and that is to go and make disciples.

Corky

Only an American Christian could be delusional enough to think the loss of delusional belief is a BAD THING. Honestly, what planet are you from? Talking to the voices in your head is regarded as mental illness if the dude’s name ain’t Jesus, or Allah, or whatever, in the rest of the world. You are no different. Get over death, stop crying about it, and accept a godless universe. Why is so bad? Now, when you help people, you won’t be doing it to score points with God and get a room upgrade. You’ll be, like me, doing it for no reward whatsoever. I am the future, you are the past. Long may it stay that way.

D. Kline

It’s interesting to see that you have a problem with both Americans AND Christians…very interesting. It says a lot about you.

So…what mighty deeds of charity have you done that can compare the great Christian philanthropists who founded hospitals, medical missions, food outreaches, shelters for the homeless etc.?

Jeffrey

There are 480-some demoninations of christianity (not including all those backwater churches); then add cathlocism, mormonism, judism and islam (and all the little sects within each), all of which has articulated their own version of biblical events. This is just the difference of religious beliefs from a single part of the world!!!

This gives you no choice but to conclude that there is not uniformity when it comes to what transpired during “biblical times”. This fact is what made me question what I was “learning” as I was growing up christian. Once I started asking questions, I found that no one had adequate answers. When I was 17, I made the decision that I was not going to be controlled anymore and dropped from christianity. I haven’t looked back.

Religion, in virtually every form, is nothing more than behavior control. Freedom and Liberty are mutually exclusive ideals when compared to religion. Of course, that same Freedom and Liberty provides you the CHOICE to be religious; however, once those “religious” people attempt to force their moral beliefs onto others, thereby infringing on the Freedom and Liberty of others, it becomes a controlling mechanism. This is even more insidious as these “religious” people use the power of government to force these beliefs on the population as a whole.

As a result, it is no wonder that more and more Americans are turning their backs on religion. For me, Freedom and Liberty today are more important than controlling others under the promise of “everlasting life” or “72 virgins”. In fact, I could easily claim that I live a more “christian life” than most christians.

So if there is a heaven and I am standing before the pearly gates after I die, I will KNOW without a shadow of a doubt the quality of the life I lived. I don’t have to worry about “forgiveness” because I did the best I could with what I had….and frankly, that is far better than most people have done. If there are gods out there, I believe that they would expect nothing less.

WM

How do you know that your “best that you did” is good enough? How many lies do you have to tell to make you a liar? How many things do you have to steal to make you a thief? If no one is perfect, how good is good enough? What is the standard? We have standards in the natural laws of our land, what would make you think that there are no absoulute standards in the spiritual realm?

You have a Christian background. Have you kept the 10 commandments? If you have not you are guilty of breaking God’s law, in which the Bible tells us that the penalty is death. In fact the Bible tells us that we are all children of wrath, already condemned. That is why we need to repent and turn to the only Name under heaven in which man can be saved. Jesus came to save us from an angry God. Yes, angry God. He is angry at sinners every day and will judge the world soon. (read the description of Jesus in revelation, this is not the blond haired, blue eyed surfer Jesus being preached today, this is a Lord of wrath)

The only way to life is by the mercy of God through repentance and belief IN Jesus Christ, thus being born again.

I fear that you seem to think that everything is alright, well it is not. You could die tonight. I pray you ponder about the things of God today asnd get right with the Living God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

D. Kline

HOG WASH! Christianity in “biblical times” was a Jewish Sect and was absolutely uniform. Jesus was a Jew and was fulfilling the Jewish Prophecy of the Messiah. Of course, there was uniformity.

“Religion is behavior control” is probably true 99% of the time. The answer is faith not religion. Faith is not something that can be proven. It’s as simple as knowing that God loves you and allowing that fact to guide your actions. Finally, just because some people get it wrong and confuse faith with religion does not mean that faith itself is invalid. It only means that some people get it wrong. Which applies, as I see it, to every important event, thought and philosophy since the dawn of time.

Maybe you should be more honest and acknowledge that God can be seen in the smile of a child, a beautiful sunset, the billions of stars and in the mirror. Maybe you should stop, think and realize that God loves you and start living with a bit of faith?

r.bitting

You are judging yourself on human standards, God will judge you according to his. If your freind stole $1000.00 and your other freind stole 500.00, do you really think the judge will let the one who stole the lesser amount off without being punished. Quit making horizontal comparisons ( man vs man ) and see how you measure up to Gods standard. Go read Exodus ch. 20, the 10 commandments or Matthew ch. 5 & 6, the sermon on the mount, and see how well you fare. Then when you realize you won’t be able to stand before God without being guilty of violating his standard, Come to Christ for forgiveness. As it stands right now, you have created a God in your own mind, who condones whatever YOU think should be acceptable. You have placed yourself in grave danger with that thinking which is based on nothing more that your feelings. It’s possible to be sincere and be dead wrong.

Rowell

Science flies you to the moon.
Religion flies you into buildings.

Sorry, the single most cause of death and suffering in the history of mankind is religion. The Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem witch trials, the current strife going on with the middle east….all because of religious differences. How many millions/billions of people have died throughout history because members of one religious order were intolerant/hostile towards a different religious order?

I don’t need some all-powerful omnipotent deity in the sky to guide me to do what is “right”. I don’t need the promise of some afterlife in order to steer me to doing good in the world. Fact of the matter, I had good parents that taught me right from wrong based on the principle of “how would you like someone to do that to you” and “put yourself in the other person’s shoes”, rather than being threatened with “If you do bad things, you won’t go to heaven” or “God is watching you”.

For those that think people who do not believe in god, or people that do not believe in YOUR god, are bad and evil, here’s some enlightenment: There are good people in the world who are not christian. Christianity isn’t the answer to every single problem. Our founding fathers knew this. They wanted a nation where persons of ANY faith (or no faith) could come and make their homes, without persecution.

This constant call for “bringing christianity back into running this country” is wrong. Completely and absolutely wrong. How would you like for a large group of people to say “we need to put more islam into running this country”? I am 100% certain that a large majority of the christian population would be against that. Leave religion out of government. Religion is supposed to be a personal experience. Practice it at home, or at your church, with your family and friends.

D. Kline

If I kill people in YOUR name does that make YOU a bad person? I think you have not thought this through.

Nick Nailer

Science flies you to the moon.
Religion flies you into buildings.

I’m using that. That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard.

D. Kline

Um….Galileo was a christian and Newton was a Christian. Both were scientists without whom you would never have gotten to the moon. So, don’t make me laugh.

Most science is based on theories penned by religious scientists….AND…most Ivy League Colleges were founded by Christians. Wake up. Faith is not the opposite of science. Only fools (religious or otherwise) think that.

Gregg M.

Well said. To date, religion (all religions, not just Christianity) has been the most divisive force in human existence. Why perpetuate that which teaches superiority over another with different beliefs? I am a Diest, and proud to say that my past, present, and my future is the product of my choices, not a divine plan. Therefore, I don’t walk around with a “get out of jail free card” by confessing my sins. I do the right thing, because it is the right thing. No need for the threat of eternal hell and damnation to scare me into compliance…

r.bitting

You are incorrect. Many, many more died at the hands of Hitler, Stalin, mussolini and Pol Pot. ALL ATHIESTS.

Rowell

Sorry R.Bitting, you are incorrect.

What Hitler did WAS due to religion. He murdered 10 million JEWS (which is religious).

And, how many millions of people died in all 12 major Holy Crusades?

Michael

It is important to make a distinction between good religion and bad religion.

“Religion” in and of itself is not good.

But following the one true God is.

Michael

r.bitting

Not so, Hitler was an athiest, and believed Darwins theory of evolution, even hand delivering a copy of Darwins book to Joseph Stalin personally. Many millions more died at the hands of secular humanists than in the crusades. Besides, you should not judge a philosophy by it’s abuses. You steryotype all christians, but I bet if someone steryotypes you, you are object to it.

WM

When Cain Killed Able, was their any religion at that time?

No, there was not.

Please Stop blaming everything bad that happens on religion, though that is a valid point, the real issue is the sin nature in every one of us.

And until we repent, turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, and are born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, human beings will continue, ( as they always have) to kill, cheat, lie, etc.

It is a heart problem.

Matt

You couldn’t be further off base. Now more than ever young people are craving a real, genuine spirituality beyond their received religion. Assent to doctrinal litmus test is not a test of Christ-likeness. Barna himself helped write an incredible indictment of the massive, encrusted, decaying *religion* behind Christianity in Pagan Christianity here: http://www.paganchristianity.org . I believe you have only written about the gum-encrusted *underside* of this coin, brother. I am a lover of Christ as well and loathe what we call *church* today.

Michael

Matt:

That looks like a very interesting book. I will have to check it out.

Michael

Meranda

Matt,

I agree with you. I do think there is a separation with many Christians. On one hand, there are going to be Christians who go more towards the ways of this world, and then there are going to be Christians who truly divorce the paganism that has been tangled up in Christianity, (Easter and Christmas) Sid Roth is a great example of the amazing supernatural occurrences that are happening in the church today, which should have been there all along. Although when you have lukewarm Christians, and the fruit of the spirit is never developed how can they POSSIBLY develop the greater gifts? We are seeing more than ever a large amount of Christians moving towards the Messianic movement, that are walking a walk much like the original disciples. There is no other God except Yeshua. For over 80 pages of evidence proving Christianity is the only way, check out this evidence http://www.evidence4christianity.blogspot.com/

Kenny Venable

Read Deuteronomy Chapter 8 and notice the comparisons of the children of Israel and the United States today. God warns the Israelites of the consequences of a nation that forgets God. Times are no different when it com heed.es to the sinful nature of man. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. God’s view of sin has’nt changed. We have been warned from the only absolute truth in existence, I pray this nation takes heed.

Meranda

SOOOOO true my brother!! This nation was Christian to begin with. Look at our nation compared to any other in the world! We have been very blessed! We are now going to experience Yahweh lifting his hand off this nation because of what we have been involved in, and the fact that the people (not me or you) have turned their backs against him. It is good to see STRONG Christians reading this blog.

Michael

Oh, please. The USA has always been kind of an evil nation. Do you remember the genocide against the Indians, the enslavement of the blacks and the subsequent oppression of the blacks, and the war in Vietnam? America has never been that moral, with or without a belief in a higher power.

vancouver mark

Same with canada, though we love to point a sort of morally-superior simply slightly British attitude at our ruder, meaner, tougher american brothers and sisters.
Our nations were both built with Satan’s expansion plan in full force, and we are seeing the full flowering and fruit of the poison trees.

God help us all.

Brian M.

Considering that this country was never founded on religion at all and is NOT a Christian Nation, I lost some credence in you after reading previous posts of yours.

First Amendment – “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. ”

Treaty of Tripoli – Art. 11. “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity… etc…”

I’m a little glad this is occuring. More people are starting to think.

WM

You may have heard of these guys mentioned below…

They must have been confused about where they stood?

There WAS a Christian influence in the founding of this nation and most of the early laws used the Biblical book of Leviticus as a foundation, the Bible was taught in early PUBLIC schools, cntenential congress started in prayer mentioning Jesus Christ, who in case you don’t know, founded Christianity:

First Prayer of the Continental Congress, 1774

The Prayer in the First Congress, A.D. 1774 O Lord our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of kings, and Lord of lords, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the Kingdoms, Empires and Governments; look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, on these our American States, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent only on Thee. To Thee have they appealed for the righteousness of their cause; to Thee do they now look up for that countenance and support, which Thou alone canst give. Take them, therefore, Heavenly Father, under Thy nurturing care; give them wisdom in Council and valor in the field; defeat the malicious designs of our cruel adversaries; convince them of the unrighteousness of their Cause and if they persist in their sanguinary purposes, of own unerring justice, sounding in their hearts, constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their unnerved hands in the day of battle!

Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation. That the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that order, harmony and peace may be effectually restored, and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish amongst the people. Preserve the health of their bodies and vigor of their minds; shower down on them and the millions they here represent, such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world and crown them with everlasting glory in the world to come. All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Savior.

“While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.”
–The Writings of Washington, pp. 342-343.

John Adams
2nd U.S. President and Signer of the Declaration of Independence

“Suppose a nation in some distant Region should take the Bible for their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God … What a Eutopia, what a Paradise would this region be.”
–Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, Vol. III, p. 9.

“The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.”
–Adams wrote this on June 28, 1813, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson.

Benjamin Franklin
Signer of the Declaration of Independence and Unites States Constitution

“Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by His Providence. That He ought to be worshipped.

That the most acceptable service we render to him is in doing good to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound religion, and I regard them as you do in whatever sect I meet with them.

As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, is the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see;

But I apprehend it has received various corrupting changes, and I have, with most of the present dissenters in England, some doubts as to his divinity; though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with less trouble. I see no harm, however, in its being believed, if that belief has the good consequence, as probably it has, of making his doctrines more respected and more observed; especially as I do not perceive, that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing the unbelievers in his government of the world with any peculiar marks of his displeasure.”
–Benjamin Franklin wrote this in a letter to Ezra Stiles, President of Yale University on March 9, 1790.

Benjamin Rush
Signer of the Declaration of Independence and Ratifier of the U.S. Constitution

“The gospel of Jesus Christ prescribes the wisest rules for just conduct in every situation of life. Happy they who are enabled to obey them in all situations!”
–The Autobiography of Benjamin Rush, pp. 165-166.

r.bitting

Actually, this shows that less are thinking anymore.

D. Kline

BUNK! We are not a theistic government but, the founders were Christian (barring the few that people still debate over) and they founded a government based on Christian Natural Law. In addition, God is mentioned continuously throughout our governmental documents. Every original state seal/emblem has a cross or dove or some other symbol of Christianity. Almost every major college was founded by a Christian ministry. Almost every state constitution mentions God and some explicitly mention Christ. Diversity is a great thing but, it is not a time machine and cannot change the truth. Our country was founded by Christians and they intended it to be a Christian Nation.

Gay Veteran

Bull******. There is NO mention of God in the Constitution. The Founders were men of the Enlightenment, of the Age of Reason.

r.bitting

As C.S Lewis says, The door to hell is locked from the inside… There are those who say to God ” your will be done” and those to whom God says “your will be done”.. Jesus IS the only way that God has provided for a fallen humanity to be saved.

REED RICHARDS

Michael,

Why is this even relevant? So what if christianity is on the decline? It’s not as if christians have stood against the following that a merciful god would require of them:

1. Genocide of Native Americans

2. Slavery, jim crow era lynchings and discrimination

3. Unjust and murderous wars, not to mention a death penalty we know is discriminatory on several grounds

4. Churches and clergy that rape and abuse children then cover it up

5. Freedom killing police state and brutal police tactics against unarmed and peaceful protesters, not to mention the daily dose of police brutality served against unarmed suspects and people already in police custody

6. Economic martial law jim crow laws and discrimination aimed at fattening the already wealthy beyond human imagination and people who have more money than even God would know what to do with

7. Much of the bullying of gay and lesbian men and women. If one was to take Prick Rick Santorum’s final solution to heart, then all gay and lesbian men and women would be rounded up in conentration camps and then shot behind the wall at point blank range

8. Christianity and all other religious cults are directly responsible for the never ending death and destruction that continues to plague the world.

Religion, all of them, including the sociopaths and psychopaths in government, needs to be completely done away with…………..

D

You are 100% correct on those eight points. That’s why it is so many people are confused and steer away from religion all together.

Everything is corrupted, religion usually the most, but only because humans are naturally corrupt and selfish. Jesus/God/The One loves all equally, even murderers. It breaks my heart to see such hate brought out by “Christians” on other people. This is not what the light/Jesus/God is about. Religion has been used as a weapon to control fear, not for loving thy neighbor.

This is because darkness covers the world (the deceiver). The bible has been corrupted and misinterpreted over the years by many, only to use it at a controllable fear factor. This is the deceiver’s work, and that’s why some examples in the bible are hard to interpret or understand. The One knew us and how we would use it for our selfish endeavors, but if you look closely and think outside the box (which you can), you will see there is more to the picture. Don’t listen to other Christians and priests, think for yourself in these matters. I think that’s the problem most of the time (people are confused from the actions and beliefs of corrupt christians).

We are in a spiritual manifestation of the battle between good and evil. The elite are foreseen in the bible as the deceiver’s puppets. The entire world is the trickster’s paradise, and we are literally within hell on earth. The deceiver is the master of his skills and can even fool the most aware of the dire circumstances of the world (such as yourself). How many others, such as proclaimed christians, have the knowledge you possess on the dire world status? Not many. Most are still sheep. This blog is the minority.

Just as we get alternative forms of news from this blog, sometimes people need to get alternative forms of this as well.

I used to think just like you Reed. In fact, I still do, but as I looked further into this world scenario from a scientific and spiritual viewpoint, I eventually found that this evil scheme is masterminded and influenced by something more powerful than us. Decades of bible study and attending church did nothing for me to actually understand. I don’t think they really want you too sometimes (the churches).

You understand evil and corruption, and that is what sets you apart from everyone else. You are a few steps away.

D. Kline

Baloney!

1. There have always been medical missionaries to the Native Americans. Do you really think those people had no problem with genocide?!

2. Slavery?! The entire movement to fight slavery was started in Christian churches including the underground railroad, and most of the leaders both black and white!

3. Unjust wars and the death penalty?! Type something like “christians against the death penalty” and “christians agains unjust wars” into Google and educate yourself.

4. Pedophilia….Oh no….Christians wouldn’t have a problem with that.

5. Police state? Are you serious? That is how 90% of Christian missionaries lose their lives or are imprisoned. Why don’t you look up the biography of Hudson Taylor (missionary to China), Brother Andrew (Missionary during WWII – hint Nazis) etc.

6. Economic oppression…..missionaries bring food, shelter and medical relief to the suffering every single day….often at their own expense. Wake up.

7. That’s just plain ridiculous. Not worth remarking about political remarks made by power hungry politicians.

8. Right, that Mother Theresa is pure evil. Why don’t you read about her life and the lives of others that have dedicated their lives to helping others in God’s name.

This is such an ignorant post! On top of that you sound very prejudiced and full of hate when you say things like…”Religion, all of them, including the sociopaths and psychopaths in government, needs to be completely done away with…………..”

D. Kline

You are ignorant and prejudiced. You should look into this a bit more before you write such an ridiculous comment. And….you seem pretty filled with hate when you say “Religion, all of them, including the sociopaths and psychopaths in government, needs to be completely done away with……”

WM

1. Genocide of Native Americans

CHRISTIANS DID THIS? REALLY? (HINT: THEY WERE NOT CHRISTIANS)

3. Unjust and murderous wars, not to mention a death penalty we know is discriminatory on several grounds

WHICH WARS ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

4. Churches and clergy that rape and abuse children then cover it up

THIS IS THE ONE THAT KILLS ME. I AM TIRED OF HAVING TO TRY TO GET PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE ABOVE REFERANCE IS TO THE ROMAN CATHOLIC RELIGIOUS SYSTEM, NOT BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY

6. Economic martial law jim crow laws and discrimination aimed at fattening the already wealthy beyond human imagination and people who have more money than even God would know what to do with

CHRISTIAN TEACHING IS OPPOSED TO THIS, SO YOU MUST BE REFERRING TO ANOTHER GROUP OR PEOPLE WHO “PROFESS” TO BE CHRISTIAN, BUT ARE NOT.

8. Christianity and all other religious cults are directly responsible for the never ending death and destruction that continues to plague the world.

AGAIN, YOU ARE MISINFORMED. TRUE CHRISTIANITY DOES NOT TEACH THIS AND TRUE FOLLOWERS WOULD NEVER CAUSE DEATH OR DESTRUCTION. YOU, LIKE MANY ARE A LITTLE CONFUSED AND WAY TOO INFLUENCED BY WHAT YOU HEAR IN THE MEDIA. A GOOD EXAMPLE IS THAT MOST PEOPLE THINK ISLAM IS A RELIGION OF PEACE…….IT IS FAR FROM A RELIGION OF PEACE.

It is a sad day for the America. We have a hope in God because His words never voids and the nations will pass away.

folden

I have been wondering for years why no one is equating the rampant corruption in government and Wall Street with the declension in true Biblical Christianity. So here we now sit in cesspool Amerika.

Thanks, and please write more about this.

WM

Great article. I would advise all readers here to visit http://www.livingwaters.com This is the ministry run by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron and others. He has several messages that you can download or order on CD regarding WHY the modern church is so ineefective and why so many so called “christians” are not living the faith and not abiding in the things of God. Along with the modern seeker friendly altar calls, modern evangelism has lost a certain element that has caused it to ineffective in producing true coverts and followers of Christ. I will let you check out the messages for yourselves, I encourage you to do so and listen VERY carefully. I really believe God is using Ray Comfort as a instrument in trying to wake up the modern church to get back to preaching of repentance.

The messages that I would highly recommend would be the following:

“Hells Best Kept Secret”

“True And False Converts”

“God Has A Wonderful Plan For Your Life”

Michael

I think Ray Comfort is great.

I also highly recommend “Hell’s Best Kept Secret”.

Michael

ScallyWag

I’ll take science over religion any day.
Science flies rockets to the moon.
Religion flies airplanes into buildings.

Dionysius

“The cold, hard truth is that in America today, the younger you are, the less likely you are to consider yourself to be a Christian.”

Thank you for the compliment to my generation. You see, we realized unlike your generation or the boomers, that our government is a lie, our media is a lie(that’s why I read your blogs), our money is a lie, and everything you still put faith in is a lie. You tried to feed us this crow and we laughed using reason and logic. Now we realize that your god is also lie.

But don’t be mad at us for being the first generation to understand, use, and accelerate the Internet and its infinite education. It was only a matter of time before we researched people like Dionysius who existed centuries before Jesus, who was half man/half god and also the son of god, who had made water into wine and rose from the dead, if there were copyright laws 2000 years ago, your boy wouldn’t have even existed.
The only thing worth a mention about Christianity is the ethics, which were assembled nicely by Thomas Jefferson without the fluff and puff of the fake miracles, but again we can look before Jesus and see this…

“Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.”
—Udanavarga 5:18

-This is a passage from Buddhism, if right now you are trying to figure out where this came from, 500 years before the golden rule was even a thought.

We read through the BS, because we can actually look it up, and refute with astounding evidence to the contrary.
Your generation and especially the laughable and ignorant baby boomer generation have not been fully awakened, and are the epitome of walking zomb-lies.

You have tried to drug my generation (Ritalin) into oblivion with your daily cock tail mix of crap to make us into Zomb-lies too. But it is not working; we have done more in one year (Egypt, Tunisia, etc…OWS) than you have accomplished in an entire generation and you are rightfully jealous. Your machine of lies is telling us that only 30% of the people support the idea of the 99% and we know that its a lie. We are 1776 and you are 1984. And that is what really hurts you, it’s not the fact that we are overthrowing you as we speak, but that we do not believe your lies anymore!

Oh and by the way if you are over the age of 66 like my great grandfather who is 93, than we do respect you and we do realize that your generation was the last of integrity, honesty, and ethics. We are so proud that you defeated fascism & communism. We know you saw your spoiled kids and their kids who are even more spoiled rotting this planet as we speak, but fear not; the great grand kids are here to save the day.

True story – The other day when talking to the great grandfather(93) he said that he was so proud of me for saving as much silver as I could preparing for another depression and that he had rewrtten the will so that I would get everything(I was shocked). I asked why he would skip over dad and grandpa. He said at Christmas when he was telling a story (how he lived in a one room shack and his mother would bring him meals that sometimes had maggots in them and he would have to pick them out because his mother was almost blind and could barely afford to feed them as it was, so he joined the war at 17 and told himself that he would never have a dirty shack, but a paid off clean house.) and no one listened after he said maggots and he saw those two laughing at each other as I was still listening intently, he said he knew then that those two (jag bags is what he calls them) Dad and pa would never get it, and his only hope was with me. We know talk on a consistent basis about how similar 1930’s is to the 2010’s and the currency wars. He says I am the only one he has faith in, for I am the only one who isn’t spoiled quote “stupid with money”. He spilled the beans and told me that Grandpa has refinanced so many times over and that he is afraid to leave the house to him and that dad will probably gamble it away. He then went on to say that it’s so simple that 3rd grader can understand what assest and liabilties are, yet they don’t teach us the basics of finiance because they are stealing it from us. Great Gramps then showed me a chest full of pre 1963 coins of silver then said that he was so happy to listen to me talk about silver. My dad and grandpa have no idea about the chest, Greagranddad thinks they will take to the bank and cash it in and blow it at the local river boat. Dad and pa give me crap daily about prepping, while great grandpa has been my most adamant supporter and the only one I can ask for advice on gardening. This is not anything new, one generation gets it right and then a few screw it up and the next one cleans it up.

I kinda compare to the five stages of death when it come to the realiztion that Christanity isn’t real. My generation is already on stage 5 of acceptance, while you are at best in denial or after reading my comment, in the stage of ANGER arrrggghh. Lol-from the millennials- the greatest generation after the greatest generation, because the ones in between are below average at best.

Just look at the leaders of the gerations to see the difference, going from Churchill/Truman/Eisenhower to Clinton/Bush/Obama should be all you need for real life examples of how screwed up the in between generations are.

If this touches a cord with you then I would say you should be upset at what you have done collectively as a generation, and you can join us and overthrow this international banking cartel that has corrupted the world into unforgivable debt.

If you could just get rid of the Rothchild family, 90% of the world’s problems would be solved at that moment. There is no such thing as money hungry evil jews, but there definetly is an example of money hungry evil Rothchilds. From now on stop using the term “Jewish” or “Jew” to pertain to a cheap scumbags, from now on call by what it is and say quit being so Rothchildish, it’s emabarrising! It’s a war on all fronts, including linguistics.

Sorry for the rant- your article struck a cord with me too.

D. Kline

YAWN…….pointless rant.

Dog

You are half right. But your precious silver will not save you in the end. Scripture says the Anti-christ is coming to rule with an iron fist and will eventually DEMAND to be worshipped. Religion is different than faith. Jesus Christ was/is real and died for us all. When the noose tightens and they strip you of all your possessions or kill you…you will maybe see–unless you get with true Bible-believing christians who know their Bible and can direct you to what scripture says. Not as a manipulation–but as the Word of God. I know someone on this blog guided someone else to read a book by a converted atheist. I would suggest you do this. I challenge you to do this. I am 51 years old and have been watching for Jesus all of my life. I believe he is coming in my lifetime. If Jesus didn’t come back, there would be no one left alive after what is to come upon the earth. Your silver will not save you. The iron fist which is the NWO will make sure of that. It is you that is the naive one.

Tim

It’s literally refreshing to read logical and reasonable comments like yours Brian, I too look at this blog with less admiration, Michael is so good at using reason and logic when comes to the Government and Politics, but it’s like the dog in the movie UP, when he sees a squirrel, he will just loose all obedience and control when it comes to Religion, kinda sad to see such intelligence go to rationale ignorance. I’m not being mean Michael and I respect your articles, but this one has a squrrel like quality for your Christian readers.

Doug Diggler

When we look around the world and see the number of bloody conflicts caused by imbeciles wanting to start fights over whose invisible superhero is more powerful, how can any person with a brain be attracted to religion? Why are matters of religious orthodoxy considered so much more important by religious adherents than the moral teachings of those religions? Why are people prepared to kill one another over things which can never be proven? I can’t see the decline of religion as a bad thing. The decline of personal morality is another matter entirely. This article points out how this country was founded by people fleeing religious persecution and then goes on to attempt to ram religion down America’s throat.

D. Kline

Religion is not faith. If I kill in YOUR name does that make you a bad person. If I ram your opinion down the throat of somebody else does that make your opinion wrong? I think you are confusing the actions of people with the actions of God.

Most religions are lifeless organized ways of controlling people and not setting them free. True faith sets you free.

JUDAS JONES

INDEED, IT IS TIME FOR RELIGION TO DISAPPEAR FROM THE UNIVERSE.

J

You mean the religion of atheism, correct? You know, that led to things like communism and various other flavours of socialism, that in turn murdered over 160 MILLION people last century, according to Dr. RJ Rummel?

Yes, the end of the religion of atheism is welcome indeed.

Gay Veteran

and how many people of faith did the killing for the Nazis and Communists?

you can’t wash the blood off the hands of those Christians who killed

r.bitting

Gay veteran, If their blood is to be washed, or if they are to be judged, it will be God, who’s mercies are renewed day by day, who will do it, not you or I. Why do you steryotype christians as muderers or homophobic. Would I be just in judging you as a murderer because atheists killed millions in wars themselves? Does’nt judging all people in these groups require you to have knowledge of all people in these groups. Why do you judge one philosophy ( christianity ) by it’s abuses and leave another ( atheism ) untouched. Are you able to wash the blood off the hands of atheistic led slaughters of tens of millions at the hands of hitler, mussolini, stalin or pol pot. Are’nt YOU being biased, the very accusation you raise against the christian. I believe your antagonism towards christians and the bible is fueled by your distain for what the bible has to say in regard to homosexuality. You think that all christians view you as an enemy. If they do, then they are not living out the words Christ spoke in regards to loving thy neighbor as thyself. This is not to say that in order to love you that christians should agree with your lifestyle, but rather let God be the judge of ALL men, including the christian. I think in your case a hypothetical question will serve well.. If God were to reveal himself to you personally, in an undeniable way, say that he appeared before you, and hypothetically, he told you that homosexuality would condemn you if you persisted in it, would you accept his words and repent, or would you continue? If what the bible says on the subject were true, would’nt the christian be your TRUE freind, in that he told you what you needed to hear, not what you wanted to hear? If you don’t think the bible is Gods word or that theres even a God at all, I will still treat you as a person of worth, because thats who you are. I will not, however, be held accountable by God or by you, for those who do not. Apersons ethnicity and a persons sexuality are sacred, in that they were given by God. If he made you, then it’s him you will answer to.

Gay Veteran

I do NOT steryotype all christians as murderers or homophobic. However, it is painfully obvious that Hitler could not have killed so many Jews (and German Gays) without the active cooperation of German Christians.

Murder is murder, whether done by atheists or Christians.

My “antagonism” towards some Christians is there desire to use the power of the state to make me a second class citizen.

Your problem is that you do NOT know that the Bible is true. You have faith it is, but you do not know if for a fact.

r.bitting

Gay veteran, faith is not blind, it’s accompanied by reason and evidence, of which the bible has plenty for anyone who desires to look for it. Again, you will come to realize that the true freind tells you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.

r.bitting

Gay veteran, lets assume that you are right about the bible not being fact ( I believe theres countless evidence to support that it is ). If you are right, then at the end of our lives, you and I will both have the same fate, which is simply to die and be no more. But, if I am right, then our fates will be drastically different, because you have not trusted in christ, the only way that God provides for men to attone for their sin. With that fact in mind, don’t you think you should invest a considerable amount of time to investigate the claims of christ? Does’nt it only make good sense to do so? Not only that, but compare the claims of Christ with the other religions. I’m extremely confident, in the words of Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias, that you will find only the bible provides you with an answer that addresses all of lifes questions, those of origin, meaning, morality and destiny. Hope you will at least consider it, I do care for you, regardless of what you may think.

chhatrapati shivaji

Ah yes…Pascals Wager.

So original.

“in the words of Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias, that you will find only the bible provides you with an answer that addresses all of lifes questions, those of origin, meaning, morality and destiny. Hope you will at least consider it, I do care for you, regardless of what you may think.”

Has Ravi Zacharias read the Koran? Or any Buddhist or Hindu text? If not , how does he know?

seanipie

Dear irreligious,

Your arrogance blinds you. God’s existence is always affirmed, never questioned throughout the bible and you are either with God or against him. So you can go on about how there are “good” people who arent religious, because there is actually no such thing as a good person in the eyes of God. Your inability to admit you are a sinner and accept God will lead you to hell. I sincerlely hope and pray that you see the truth before it is too late. This is not meant to be condescending or belittling, but serves as a WARNING.

Please, please, please turn to God so that he may have mercy on you at your judgment. There is no use in resisting, there is nowhere to hide and nothing to say that will make God just go away. He always has his way.

REED RICHARDS

Michael,

Not that you respond to anything I post here, but why do you describe this reduction in christianity as shocking? Do you feel like the christians “own” the asylum states? Do you feel as if christianity is the only legitimate religion here? I am really interested in knowing why you would use the word “shocking” to describe this transformation.

Michael

Reed:

I used the term shocking to describe the magnitude of the decline. When you take a close look at the numbers they really are staggering.

Michael

Gary2

Michael-I think you need to blame it on the Neplelim. That is the cause.

You can sing it to the tune “Blame it on the Alcohol” by Jamie Fox.

Blame it on the Neph-eph-eph-eph-ephilm

Blogger

The devaluing of Christianity can be a good thing.

When I was growing up, I saw attending church as boring. Why was I there? Just because other people were there?

Religion is not the problem itself but the prople that practice it. I was more turned off by oppresive and above all, hypocritical poeple that always showed up in church but never practiced what they preached.

I’m in my 50s now and I saw “Christianity” as someting irrelevant when I was younger and I still do.

Now remember, a relationship with God can be a very personal thing. No churches are required.

But due to the people involved in churches that these young people experienced as children, can you really blame them for not wanting to get involved?

When people grow up and think for themselves, this result can be expected.

D

The great trickster (deceiver, satan) has infiltrated the churches and religious organizations long ago.

People are turning away because they are confused. We have corrupt churches, priests, ministers, and “Christians” at every step. Many self-proclaimed Christians and affiliates spew tremendous hatred and corruption, yet they fail to realize it.

Non-believers see this corruption and question the reality. They must realize religion can never be perfect because the human race is naturally flawed. They must first understand this human nature and the tricks the great deceiver unfolds to steer us away from the light. It can sometimes be a long, difficult journey.

http://stopneocons.bravejournal.com Winston Smith

guess the gimmicks of rock-n-roll, jump up and down mega-fun filled churches not working out……they do not transform and transpire..

D. Kline

The problem is with the fake pastors who claim to care about the “lost” and to “shepherd” the “sheep” but, don’t. The truth is that the “Christian Church” has become a religion. It’s time to embrace faith and discard fake religions. Faith is valid inside or outside of a church. A famous atheist once said that if he believed in the Christian Gospel and the eternal damnation of the lost that he would have crawled across London on his hands and knees on broken glass to save just one. Where are the Christians like that ?! Enjoy your self serving “promise keepers”, prayer breakfasts, guest speakers, build your stupid buildings and have your building funds…etc. because you will reap what you sow. God is not mocked. You are sowing the seeds of your own destruction and they will kick in your door, drag you away imprison you and enslave you. You are raising your own persecutors.

Gay Veteran

“…According to a study done by LifeWay Research, membership in Southern Baptist churches will fall nearly 50 percent by the year 2050 if current trends persist….”

The obvious question is why?

Maybe because the Southern Baptists are merely part of the right-wing Republican party. Maybe because of the Southern Baptists’ history of racism, sexism, and homophobica. Maybe because too many Southern Baptists believe in Mammon instead of Jesus.

J

Researchers concluded in the late 1800s that by sometime in the 1900s (I forget the exact date) London would be covered in horse poop up to 20 feet, too.

Billy Graham explicitly insisted on blacks at his meetings from the very start; the *reverend* Martin Luther King, last I looked, was black, as are people like leading southern pastors like Tony Evans. Sexism? Yes, men and women are different, but otherwise you cite nothing other than your own accusations, without citing data. and the “homophobia” thing has gotten a bit old and tired. Yes, homosexuality is not the expression of God’s will for people, and I have had gay friends even way back 40 years ago, when I first became a Christian. While we were in disagreement, we were people that stood up for them as people in the image of God, just as all sinners are. Nevertheless, nature made us male and female; the anus is biologically not the same as female reproductive organs, which are MEANT to stretch (the rectal area is like tissue paper, and tears VERY easily, allowing for immune system suppresants to get into the bloodstream, etc.) The eliminative tract is also the organ of death (eliminating decayed matter, etc.) amd even the very smell of excrement gives a hint to people to keep aways, whereas the female reproductive tract is an organ that, while also having elimination, includes the ability to give life.

No, friend, I am not homophobic, or any of the other things you write about. But you neednt’ be phobic of exploring healing either. There are – in contrast to the phobias shown my many gays, a LOT of ex-gays out there, who found their true life’s purpose (e.g, Exodus Int’l). You, too, can be one of them

Nick Nailer

Rackets, cults & fake dieties come and go. You worry too much.

Good riddance to backward superstition.

J

“When men cease to believe in God, they don’t believe in nothing, but ***anything***

– GK Chesterton

(and that “anything,” today, is StuffMart, the NFL, Dancing with the Stars, the Kardashians or Lady Gaga, my personal peace and prosperity, ad nauseam… and by that measure, the atheists and “non-religious” are in fact the most religious of all, where “religion” is defined as anything telling us where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going (to the atheist minds, we came from “chance,” we’re here to enjoy ourselves, and we’re going…. going…. well, we try not to think about that, or else come up with some feel-good hypothesis….

Just do your own google of “Court ruling on atheism as religion” or similar, and you will find court rulings stating atheism is indeed a religion.

J

Yes, Nick, good riddance to the god of materialism, the god of self, the god of ignorance that absolutely refuses to investigate the claims of Christianity.

“Unfortunately,” folks like Simon Greenleaf, at Harvard (who basically set in place the rules for what constitutes evidence in American courts) had the misfortune to investigate the claims for the resurrection. He was Jewish, BTW. On completeling his investigation, he became a Christian.

Nick Nailer

You assume much. I was once a foolish Christian, a state sponsored murderer (USMC), and I once gave a damn about this BS racket you call a country. Good riddance.

Gutter Economist

Fact or folklore, the last part of George Washington’s Vision forecasts the future of the United States…

“And again I heard the mysterious voice saying “Son of the Republic, look and learn.” At this the dark, shadowy angel placed a trumpet to his mouth, and blew three distinct blasts; and taking water from the ocean, he sprinkled it upon Europe, Asia and Africa. Then my eyes beheld a fearful scene: From each of these countries arose thick, black clouds that were soon joined into one. Throughout this mass there gleamed a dark red light by which I saw hordes of armed men, who, moving with the cloud, marched by land and sailed by sea to America. Our country was enveloped in this volume of cloud, and I saw these vast armies devastate the whole county and burn the villages, towns and cities that I beheld springing up.

…Greenleaf’s book is called “The Testimony of the Evangelists” BTW (if I recall corrrectly); the author of Ben Hur is another atheist who had the “misfortune” to investigate the claims of Christianity, and became a Christian, similar to what happened to Morrison, who wrote the classic “Who Moved the Stone,” after starting research to put that doggoned resurrection story to rest. A more modern version of this is Lee Strobel, an atheist lawyer form Yale, who also, unfortunately, researched the same issue, and ended up becoming a Christian, writing The Case for Christ.

So…. yes, I agree. Ignorance is bad, as you say. And as former atheist CS Lewis from Oxford once wrote, an atheist can NEVER be too careful about what he reads… he might just end up confronting the real God who is indeed there, and is not silent.

steve

the issue isn’t that religion is declining simply because of some bullshit reason like moral decline or decadence in society, its the attack on religion that is taking place. it’s like we are no longer allowed to believe in christ or god. there are so many stories out there, you could trip over them, at all the attacks on religion out there.

seanipie

I concur. This is to be entirely expected so I take it as it is: a sad, disturbing, soon to turn violent situation, but when its all over…you know what will happen.

fil

Attacks on religion? If anything it’s the religious who are attacking the atheists and “non-believers”. Christianity is one of the largest religions out there, to claim that it is under attack by a minority group is ridiculous. Just because young people are opening their eyes to rationality and ignoring religion for the lie that it is doesn’t mean Christianity is under attack.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/otep/smashthecontrolmachine.html SMASH THE CONTROL MACHINE

All these are the beginning of sorrows.

9Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. 10And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The church needs to regroup and gather in homes, where faith is restored, private, and truth is real. Forget the church leadership. They are padding their pockets and socially re-engineering your mind with think tank religion and crisis management, and they’re getting paid to do so – much like the public schools and mass media.

Raise your churches in your homes. All you need is a Bible – one will do. Save yourselves and your souls and leave your new and improved church buildings, fancy organs, fundraisers, and colorful windows behind.

As in all Communist countries, the church will survive underground, so to speak, and with genuine prayer!!!!!THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL!!!!WHEN EVER I HEAR THE DEVIL AND HIS DEMONS COMING AT ME I PLAY THIS AT 120 DECIBLE’S LITERALLY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrZK4K6Qzdc!!!THE 501 3 C DAYS ARE OVER!! THE TRUE CHURCH IS UNDERGROUND!!!The religion which is holy and free from evil in the eyes of our God and Father is this: to take care of children who have no fathers and of widows who are in trouble, and to keep oneself untouched by the world.!!!!YOU DONT HAVE NO OIL!! YOUR HOUSE IS BUILT ON SAND!!

http://www.seekthetruthfirst.webs.com GHarmer

right on brother!!

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/otep/smashthecontrolmachine.html SMASH THE CONTROL MACHINE

Well, I got into a debate with a “Christian” who said that the teachings of Jesus, agree with homosexuality… If that’s not blasphemy I don’t know what is…

And I’m a Christian as well, and I do not hate homosexuals, but I do believe it is wrong. However, I will not tolerate somebody saying Jesus taught homosexuality, that is simply not true, and a dangerous comment to make.

I think we as a whole, have become lax on religion, morals and values. It’s not just Christianity, but most people have no since of dignity or real self-esteem whatsoever. This makes me upset, because I know it was done deliberately, and the powers that be, want a degenerate, sinful and dumbed-down society.

In all honesty, I don’t blame most people, because they never had a chance. They never went to church, they never had parents who loved them and showed them support, or somebody to care for them and raise them properly.

Most people like to ride the fence, and as a Christian you cannot do that. You can’t be afraid of persecution, scorn or to be openly laughed at or mocked.

So, when I say that I do not agree with homosexuality, I don’t agree with it because the Bible says it’s a sin. And the point that I’m making is, if you are a Christian, then the Bible is the infallible word of God, and it is our duty to uphold and carryout the law.

Now, I don’t agree with “bible thumping” and I’m not trying to hurt anyone’s feelings, I mean, none of us are perfect, we all have our faults and we all sin, but it’s time that people choose a side, and a lot of people think they can be “weekend Christians” but God doesn’t work like that.

Stay Strong and Keep Up the Good Work!

Gay Veteran

“…the Bible is the infallible word of God…” and used to justify slavery

_Underscore

You don’t need to believe in imaginary people to be moral.

You need to be heard, to feel valued and part of the society you are in.

In America, and here in the UK, the governments are failing its people by allowing the rich to become richer and rest poorer.

Do the research yourself, the happiest countries are those where inequality is low.

It has nothing to do with belief in a God.

Gary2

AMEN_you are 100% correct! Well Said!

Louise in MO

Gary 2

When I read this article, I just knew your name would show up in the comments. I also knew what you would write.

You are obviously obsessed with hating the rich and cosider them to be the cause of every problem we have.

The Obama’s tax return shows they gave one percent to charity, while the “evil, rich” guy, Romney gave 15 percent.

The reason I am not rich, Gary 2, is because I did not make better choices in my life. It’s not because of the rich nor the government. I am not poor because I was shown a good work ethic by my “christian” parents.

You really need to get off the rich bashing; it’s become tiresome and you do come off as being somewhat crazy.

nick

So America is a theocracy! Finally someone admits to it!

Loveless One

Hey Everyone,

I just woke up and have been putting off reading this one, later today after I exercise and have some coffee I’ll read the article and share my full opinion.

But I just wanted to put something out there real quick, religion isn’t the cause of all the world’s problems, just like how science isn’t the solver of all problems either.

IMO we live in a hyperreality, coined by french philosopher Jean Baudrillard. Most of what he argues is that living in a postmodern era, we have lost the original meaning in everything.

A quick example, look at relationships, in the past let’s say 30 years ago, most were built on the cornerstone of love. Today stupid young people get married because their sex life is good, thus in a few years time (and often a few kids later) the mirage ends in a messy divorce, because the sex dries up. In the past most young people realized sex was the natural by-product of love, not and ends to a means.

Why did they get this way? The television raised them, more specifically commercialism raised them. We can’t have a return to lofty ideals of religion, ethics and morals when we live in a society that spawned ‘Sex And The City’.

It’s like trying to paint a house that has no right angles, and then getting upset because the paint job looks bad.

Hope some of that made sense…

Citizen Mike

Always a pleasure to read your posts. I am concerned, however, that your operationalization of “Christianity” is too narrow to cover many followers of Jesus. The 6 statements in the Barna Group study, for example, would exclude all Roman Catholics who are orthodox, due to the historical discounting of the Pauline denial of “works.” Many Christians also have a strong love for the Bible but acknowledge that God permitted us to make our own errors in its perpetuation. I suppose many people who identify themselves as “Christians” might believe that Catholics aren’t really “Christians,” but that exclusion seems rather like the fallacies that led to the Reformation in the first place. My purpose isn’t to start a big religious debate on your page, but rather to question whether such narrow definitions can be used fairly in arguments about the decline of American Civilization.

REED RICHARDS

D,

THANKS FOR THE KIND WORDS:

I live in a reality based world. I don’t subscribe to the notion that everything is a bed of roses, beer, and pizza unlike most people. And I don’t focus on things that don’t matter either, like gay marriage, school prayer, etc., etc. Most people pay no attention to anything outside of the bubble that they live in. This is why governments around the world, not just in the asylum states, stage the most outlandish schemes one can imagine. They do this because people have, in the most idiotic fashion possible, come to believe that “their government”
would never do the things that it has in fact done. Also, many people continue to live and function in this corrupt warfare welfare state system, and believe that any change to it would therefore take something away from them, which they obviously do not want, even though in the end, said system will collapse from the weight of its own corruption. And because logical, rational thought is not the centerpiece of people’s daily lives, this collapse can not be stopped. They willingly participate and vote for a corrupt system headed for collapse, because they have been taught nothing else during their lives. In the end, one cannot, and I do not, have sympathy for people under these circumstances, because their wounds are self inflicted.

————————————————-
You are 100% correct on those eight points. That’s why it is so many people are confused and steer away from religion all together.

Everything is corrupted, religion usually the most, but only because humans are naturally corrupt and selfish. Jesus/God/The One loves all equally, even murderers. It breaks my heart to see such hate brought out by “Christians” on other people. This is not what the light/Jesus/God is about. Religion has been used as a weapon to control fear, not for loving thy neighbor.

This is because darkness covers the world (the deceiver). The bible has been corrupted and misinterpreted over the years by many, only to use it at a controllable fear factor. This is the deceiver’s work, and that’s why some examples in the bible are hard to interpret or understand. The One knew us and how we would use it for our selfish endeavors, but if you look closely and think outside the box (which you can), you will see there is more to the picture. Don’t listen to other Christians and priests, think for yourself in these matters. I think that’s the problem most of the time (people are confused from the actions and beliefs of corrupt christians).

We are in a spiritual manifestation of the battle between good and evil. The elite are foreseen in the bible as the deceiver’s puppets. The entire world is the trickster’s paradise, and we are literally within hell on earth. The deceiver is the master of his skills and can even fool the most aware of the dire circumstances of the world (such as yourself). How many others, such as proclaimed christians, have the knowledge you possess on the dire world status? Not many. Most are still sheep. This blog is the minority.

Just as we get alternative forms of news from this blog, sometimes people need to get alternative forms of this as well.

I used to think just like you Reed. In fact, I still do, but as I looked further into this world scenario from a scientific and spiritual viewpoint, I eventually found that this evil scheme is masterminded and influenced by something more powerful than us. Decades of bible study and attending church did nothing for me to actually understand. I don’t think they really want you too sometimes (the churches).

You understand evil and corruption, and that is what sets you apart from everyone else. You are a few steps away.

D

Hi Reed: I understand sincerely your thoughts, and you are correct. Many people don’t understand the complexities involved in our gov’t and the self-infliction they propose upon themselves. They believe the vote actually matters in today’s world, where it essentially doesn’t.

I want to remind you that we have been corrupted since Pre-K, thinking that the R and D battle actually matters, it is one of the deceiver’s tricks. He makes sure we battle against each other.

You are aware of the this complex corruption. Please try to help others to see this. It is VERY DIFFICULT, but try your best. You are powerful, seeing the discrepancy.

That is what sets you apart from 99.9% of the population. You see there is more to life than that. And that is why you are attacked bythe darkness than most. You see the reality.

I know it it difficult to try and help others who don’t see this reality. You claim is it their fault and they should have seen.
You may be right, but please understand their complex world. They might not have the insight to foresee this corruption. You do. That is why you are attacked and sets you apart from most. The deceiver knows this and wants you to condemn those who don’t know (he wants to own them).

You are a major player in these times. You have something special which others (the darkness) don’t want found or portrayed. I hope you see otherwise.

Others will say you are psychotic and need to see false deviations. I say you are wise and need direction. You are wise, but are confused by the greatest power in the world (yes, the greatest deceiver IN THE UNIVERSE). That is not a bad sign. Keep on ROCKIN’, you have something special.

A good Christian will not say you are “bad” and a poor soul. You are a great person in this time, and I wish to you to see you potential against the darkness (and possibly the greatest darkness that ever rose). Rock on. YOU are a good man.

REED RICHARDS

D,

Again, thank you for the kind words. But you and I are part of the roughly 1 percent of the population that gets it. The rest, not so much. I only silightly disagree with you on one point. There is nothing complex about corrupt government and corrupt “corporate fascism” that rules the asylum states. Wall Street’s and Washington’s crimes are out in open view for all to see, if people wish to see it. Illegal wars, targeted murders, outright theft of people’s private brokerage/banking accounts (MF Global), permanently low interest rates that hurt savers in favor of speculators, all of this is not complex, and it is hidden in plain sight for all to see. It is as I said, people do not wish to see it. The suckers who voted for Obama in 2008, and Professor Cornel West is the biggest sucker of them all, are getting exactly what they asked for. Cornel West campaigned his behind off for Obama and then when it came time to reward the brother for campaigning for him, Obama did his best uncle tom imitation and then not only stiffed West at the inauguration by not inviting him, but started yelling at him and berating him, knowing that if Professor West had gotten anywhere near confrontational in his response that Secret Service would have cracked his head open like an egg. But I knew that Obama was a fraud when he voted for the first TARP banker bailout, voted to give telecomm companies retroactive immunity from prosecution for spying on people, voted for the new Bankruptcy bill which makes student loan debt more murderous to a person’s finances than child support and alimony combined, and proclaimed that murdering children in Pakistan was somehow in amerika’s security interest. Add those things together and you get Bush on steriods.

Although I share your sentiments, I am afraid that the only way people’s eyes will be opened is when the financial collapse begins to hurt them where it counts most, in their wallets. Standby people, the criminal class in Washington D.C. and New York City are just getting started.

BeenThere

I sympathise with American Christians regarding the state of America. Although not an American, I am a Christian. However when we look at American Christians and the state of America, it becomes a case of “Houston, we have a problem”. The problem is that from about the 1850s onward, the American protestant churches began to preach that “the 10 commandments were done away with at the cross”. Hence American Christianity has also contributed to the lawless state of America.

REED RICHARDS

BeenThere,

Where were these fake christians when slavery was began? Genocide of Native Americans? Jim Crow Era South? The unnecessary Civil War? Internment of Japanese Americans during WWII? All the current undeclared, illegal wars on Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Iran etc. etc.? Support of Opium trade in Afghanistan and Operation Fast and Furious which is about the shipping of guns to killers in Mexico and the importation of drugs from Mexico to amerika?

Christians had/have nothing to say about any of these things and they therefore have no moral high ground to stand on………….

Sirperry

Personally, I am overjoyed that people are turning away from primitive rituals and beliefs, as they do so much more harm than good. This world could do without any more Crusades or organized pedophilia rings like the Catholic Church.

Sorry, but this asylum society is not about to allow logic, reason, and rationality to become the centerpiece of its functioning any time soon………

Mary Cross

Can you give any examples of them doing more Harm then good? Because I see no harm in believing in any christian faith at all. Even if you are a non-beliver it doesn’t bring any harm or effect to you other then you are missing out on the love that God gives. I am Catholic so i find it to highly offensive. You have no right to srike at people beliefs. Your atheist? congratulations, but keep the criticism to yourself please. Having beliefs gives you kinder heart, so I see no harm that you say it causes. But by all means if you are so against it then tell me some of these “harms” because i would just love to hear them, because I am sure they will all be illogical or false. And being a Christian does put reason in your brain, Faith is even based upon reason. So you might want to put some reason into YOUR brain.

xander cross

Sorry, but none of you have evidence that your god exists and last time I checked, there is not a decline in christianty in america (just look at all of the people in the crowd during the republican debate that applauded when netw gingrich refused to answer about his “open marriage”) If you get people to believe in absurd claims, then you can get them to commit attrocites.

r.bitting

Theres plenty of evidence that God exists, but thats not really your hangup now is it. Your problem with Gods existence has everything to do with your pride and your unwillingness to humbly accept the fact that there is an all powerful being to whom you owe your existence, and the thought of you having to give an account to him in the end is more than you can bear. ANYONE who says that they cannot find evidence for the existence of God, who transcends time and space is a fool. That is’nt my diagnosis, it’s Gods, and I agree. To say that God did’nt create the universe is to say that something came out of nothing, an affect without a cause, which takes more faith to accept than the concept of a Creator, not to mention the evidence of Gods existence based upon the FACT that OBJECTIVE ( not subjective ) moral values exist. But lets turn this around, if you say that God does not exist, present your evidence to support that. If not, then your points are all pointless.

Gay Veteran

why does Christianity depend on human sacrifice?

why is man so arrogant as to think that only death is the way his “sins” are forgiven?

madbuilder

as a person who believes christ did exist and had wonderful things to share with our world- i must admit that nothing scares me more than an evangelical christian. let us not confuse the difference between a belief in God, Yahweh, Nobodaddy, or whatever you want to call it- with greedy earthbound souls that use it to gain money and power. i hope we could see that if a person uses religion for personal gain of any sort, said person should in fact classified as evil. if so- and there is an ‘afterlife’- there may in fact be a less-than-comfortable place for the likes of the olsteens, falwells, and robertsons of the world.
god is there, and personal. god shouldn’t like banks (as his ‘son’ professed). god should be just, and i am sure he/she is. but god is not talking to you through a man/woman in an ampitheater asking for your loot. god is not speaking in lloyd blankfeins ear telling him to make money in his name. maybe ‘christians’ should start back at the roots of christianity and the works of God’s son- e.g. more benevolence and less greed- and people may start hitting the pews again

Gary2

Michael-here is my experience. I get little to nothing out of going to church and even dread Sundays to some extent. I would like to talk about things other than events of several thousand years ago.

The fact that Saul consulted with the Witch of Endor, or that God and the Devil wagered at Jobs expense, or that some guy got swallowed by a fish has no meaning and I could care less as it relates nothing to my life here and now in 2012.

If I have to hear that same stuff year after year it gets sickening. I do not care about pontious pilot King Herod et al. They are dead and gone F-them.

How does my hearing about Jesus turning water in to wine help me? How about Jesus turning the rock in my yard to gold? WTF do I care about ****** that happened thousands of years ago?

I see the young leaving church as it is so mind numbingly boring that it brings tears to their eyes.

Michael

Gary:

You always say “show me the money”, so here it is….

The God of the universe loved you so much that He sent His Son to be tortured and to die to pay the penalty for your sins so that you could have eternal life.

What amount of money would you be willing to trade for eternal life?

Michael

Gary2

So how does knowing this put food in my belly? Just pray the hunger away?

I mean money I can use to buy happiness and comfort in THIS life.

I do however, appreciate what you said.

Michael

Gary:

Read Deuteronomy chapter 28.

My guess is that your life currently sounds a lot like verses 15 through 68.

If you want your life to be much more like verses 1 through 14, turn to the one true God and start doing the things He tells you to do.

Michael

Gary2

Michael-Why did God have to send anyone to save anyone? If he is all powerful then he can wave the magic wand and everything is perfect. No son needed to die on a cross. As I see it God CHOSE to have things be such as they were that HE needed to send a son to die fore our sins. Again the magic wand thing.

If God allowed there to be a devil then its his issue that he needs to save anyone. Again the magic wand thing. This is all gods choice.

Michael

Gary:

God is a God of perfect love but God is also a God of perfect justice.

For example, imagine a judge that would just let Hitler off for all the crimes that he committed.

Would such a judge be a “good” judge?

As a God of perfect justice, God has to judge our wickedness, but as a God of perfect love God also paid the penalty for our guilt Himself.

If you don’t know about them, that either means that you are ignorant or self-deluded.

Michael

http://twitter.com/kevinsky Kevinsky

Michael, the video with the eyes reappearing is such a bad fake, it’s offensive. You should be angry that someone thinks you are fool enough to think that’s real.

The eye effect itself is amateur, a first-year animation student wouldn’t get a C+ for turning that project in.

Beyond that, there are close-ups of the girl, the healer, the mother, view of the audience from the stage, and wide shots. In the wide shots you should be able to see at least two other cameras on stage. The reason you don’t is because it was shot multiple times from different angles and edited together. Also, the acting is terrible.

mondobeyondo

God allows everyone free will, to choose what they want.

Satan (the angel formerly known as Lucifer) chose to rebel against God. Why? Because he wanted to be like God. Satan wants you to be like God. The problem is, Satan wanted the glory for himself. He became JEALOUS… ENVIOUS… and those other 5 of the 7 deadly sins.

He used that trick against Adam and Eve (read Genesis chapter 3). You know, “Ye shall not surely die… for in the day that ye eat thereof, ye shall become gods, knowing good and evil…”

And he uses that same trick to this very day.

trev

Hi Gary, Why did He have to save us? Because He has such high standards (of Holiness)we in our fallen state are unable to reach those standards no matter how hard we try.Jesus as perfect God in human form is the only one able to.
Why doesn’t God wave the wand and everything’s perfect? I wish it was so. But he has given us the gift of choice and has himself chosen not to override our freedom of choice whatever it would be. By sending Jesus who took the punishment we deserve for those wrong choices,He has made the plan of recocilliation very clear, and for us, though not for Jesus, easy.
God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself….
That’s Grace!

Nick Nailer

When it comes to religion I agree with the socialist.

Larry

Hi Gary
Our Father allows His children to have free choice.
To choose which way they should go in life and what to believe.
The Lord Jesus is God and He loves His children very much.
Jesus’s children are the ones who believe upon His name as our savior and the Son of God.
Every man has a choice and the Father knows that the Holy Spirit can take the worse of the devil owned masses and cleanse them to be as Gold and white and pure in His eyes.
Did you know that 1000 years is to a day to the Lord.
In the Lords time His child is only gone(given a life of 68 yrs) about two hours from the Fathers arms.
Just think if your little one was gone two hours away from you how much yelling and calling you wold do trying to get your child to hear so that you may find them and be with them.
People talk as Christianity as a religion .
Christianity has never been a religion.
It is based on truth and knowledge and wisdom which can only be received by the Holy Spirit by faith.
By faith you believe and are saved and throgh the Holy Spirit(which you will receive)you receive knowledge.
Knowledge then begets wisdom.
Then and only then can you become what the Father wants you to be for Him and for His pleasure, not what the world wants you to be.
True Christians are led by the Holy Spirit of God the Father our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Father chooses where they will go and who they will give their testimony to.
Whether it be a large mass gathered together or one individual in a field alone, miles from nowhere.
You are looking at 2 days since our God our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into the Heavens with a word for all.
For who so ever believeth on my name shall not perish but have everlasting life.
It has always been mans choice to be saved.

Peace be with you.

Xander cross

That is, if you can actually prove there is eternal life in the first place?

Michael

Xander:

There is a massive amount of evidence if you are willing to look at it.

For example, do you know that the God of the Bible told us specifically how many things in history would play out in centuries in advance?

A great introductory book on this subject is entitled “Discovering God” and it can be found here….

Again, the problem here is’nt Gods existence, its the unwillingness to submit ones life to him. You have been given all the evidence you need to arrive at the conclusion that God exists and that the bible is in fact the inspired word of God. I, myself have even responded to your posts in the past with resources to help you find the answer, but you have not accessed them. because proof of Gods existence was never the issue with you. Unfortunately for you, you will not be able to plead ignorance on the day of judgment. You should spend some time in Romans ch. 1 & 2. Your own conscience will bear witness against you on the day of judgment ( Romans 2:15-16 ). You are exactly the same as the people who demanded that Jesus give a sign to show that he was Gods son after he had already provided them with all the miracles and signs they would ever need to believe. Ironically, you refer to the story of Jonah in your post, which is the only sign Jesus said they would be given. You don’t accept the word of God as truth because you know that it calls you to repent and live differently, which is exactly the problem the Jewish leaders had with Jesus, which is why they wanted him to produce yet another sign. You don’t WANT to believe because it means taking yourself off the throne and putting God there. You only see the world through a political lens.

Gay Veteran

you want god because you fear death

r.bitting

You fear the bible is true and the ramifications of what that means so you attack it and christians in an attempt to find peace, but without submitting to Gods plan, none will be found. I will continue to pray for you, that you may be saved. God bless.

mondobeyondo

Ahhh – but it does.
The examples you mention – the Witch of Endor, Jonah’s experience in the belly of the whale, etc. – are meant to teach us future (not so future now) generations about God’s love and laws to us.

Jesus’s temptations by the devil, after the 40 days of fasting, was one of the ultimate battles of faith. He (Christ) fought those battles on our behalf.

I’m not one of those “scriptures and passages” people, but I will tell you, that the devil came to Jesus and told him that if he was really the Son of God, to turn the stones below him into bread. Jesus replied, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from God”. I believe that passage is in Matthew, but I’m not sure. Of course, He could have very easily turned rocks into bread. But that would have defeated His purpose on this earth. There are two other instances mentioned, about similar temptations.

Just something to think about. Need to get back to the Patriots/Ravens football game now.

Larry

Peace to all

Christianity has never been a religion.
The Bible was never written for an worldly mass.
The Holy Spirit still lives within the Fathers chosen.
The Truth is still the Truth.
Why are you at wondering when it has been explained to you?
In the unveiling of Jesus Christ( the Revelations).
We are living in the last days The Day of Our Lord.
This has to come about for it is already been told.
The apostacy of the Laodicean church age.
The Lord tells us to watch and when we see these signs be glad for our redemption is near.
God our Lord and heavenly Father Jesus Christ is not in a building but is living in the people His children.
I would say if the church is getting vacant it is not because the people have quit believing and loving their Holy Father Jesus Christ but because His truth is no longer preached and the buildings called churches are filled with the ones who tickle the unsaved ears with what they want to hear and with doctrines of devils.
It does not take a preacher in a building to save the lost child.
We all can pray for our loved ones and for the safety of them and also we all need the wisdom that is received from the Holy Spirit to absolutely without a doubt know what we are to do in these last days.
May the Father watch over you and keep you all whole til His coming.

THExHOUND

who cares? i think we’re better off without any religion.

trev

Yeh I agree.You can Keep your religion.

If we walk in the light as He is in The light we have fellowship one with the other and the blood of Jesus His son cleanses us from all sin.1 John something.

Im thankful that its all about relationship.

Cristina

The thing is that there is a great awareness going on. Young adults, especially, now ask questions that their parents perhaps never bothered to ask about religion. When there are no answers, it leads to believe that maybe religion is just baseless.

http://lifeaftercapitalism.com Life After Capitalism

Religion is in decline because the internet has helped the spread of truth and people are waking up to what a racket it is, much like politics and economics.

Vincent

That would explain why every tyrant from China to DC wants to control all content on the Internet! Dissent and questioning are unpopular with the DHS.

Strange that the most virulent atheists on this board are supporters of Shariah Law and the Muslim Brotherhood!

Harry W.

“Strange that the most virulent atheists on this board are supporters of Shariah Law and the Muslim Brotherhood!” Excuse me, where does that come from???

RevBryan

Michael,
Great article. It did bring to mind a survey that the old Redbook magazine published back in August of 1961 where 100 ministerial students were interviewed about their beliefs.
56% denied the virgin birth of Jesus Christ.
11% did not believe in the divinity of Jesus.
2% believed in the immortality of mankind.
1% were convinced there would be a second-coming of our Lord.
Considering how long ago that was, one can only imagine the damage that has been done by those seminaries where the gospel and our Lord have been reduced and demoted.
Therefore it is not surprising in the least that the state of the Christian Church is in decline and that as it does so does it impact the health of this country which was founded on Christian principles. The whole of chapter 5 in the Book of Isaiah makes it clear that God will judge us and rather harshly indeed for not only our sinful behaviors as well as our apostasy. You cannot enjoy the fruits of God’s grace and then turn and reject his commandments and expect him to continue blessing you (St. John 14:23, 24).

http://Poems4TheSoul.com Scott Sepanek

The Gift

Time to leave Egypt land. Politics and religion are built on sand. The sands of time are now starting to shift. Jesus Christ died to give you a gift. It’s up to you to say yes or no that will be based on the salvation of your soul. Now is the time to get into the boat as spiritual Israel for you to stay afloat and tell others of this truly amazing news.

Pls pass this short message on to others & have them do the same. Scott

Owen

Let me repeat: There is to be a great falling away (happening now) before the end of this present evil age. Don’t be fooled. You don’t want to be numbered with those walking away. After the great falling away will be a brief period in which God separates His people from all those who chosen to reject His provision for reconciliation. You don’t want to be a part of this group, as these are headed into eternal exil in the outer darkness. Cling to Jesus, He is the only way to the Father. He is your only hope.

Gay Veteran

Michael:

have you ever heard of fraud? religious charlatans “healing” people and of course immediately asking for donations from the sheeple

Michael

Gay Veteran:

I have been healed by God.

Am I a fraudster because I was supernaturally healed?

I am amazed that anyone still doubts healings in this day and age.

Michael

http://www.capd.com.au Lawrence Myers

Dear All,

Why do Protestants insist on calling themselves Christians?

I indirectly ask this question on the website http://www.capd.com.au and I give my reasons for arguing that they certainly “are not followers of Jesus Christ” and should not call themselves Christians.

Most Protestants have extreme prejudice against the Catholic Church, the Catholic Bible and Catholic people, in general.

If Protestants actually followed Jesus Christ should they not at least read from the SAME BOOK of SCRIPTURES that Jesus Christ used i.e. the Septuagint? Or, if they don’t read Greek, at least from its closest English translation? English speaking Catholics mostly use the Douay-Rheims Bible which is the English translation of St Jerome’s Latin Vulgate.

I am not saying that St Jerome only used the Septuagint as his main source when he translated from the Old Testament (which contained those seven extra books that Jesus Christ and His Apostles quoted from) but he did include those seven books in his Latin Vulgate Bible – compiled in 382AD-404AD.

I believe in Christ, not “religion.” Christ, not religion, is the way the light and the life. The Body of Christ (that is, believers), not a “church,” is the group of which I belong (but I do go to a local nondenominational much of the time). I support Christianity, not Churchianity!

Yes, there is a falling away, a strong delusion, and a luckwarmness (read Revelation on the church of Laodecia and also read 2nd Thessalonians), and now it is hitting the US hard…but what do you expect when “christian” politicians like Santorum and Gingrich (as well as the Mormon Romney) are constantly pushing for war for Israel’s sake?

I blame Christian Zionism–which is the doctrine that holds sway in probably a majority of Protestant churches (esp. megachurches), at least as much as I blame atheism for this sad state of affairs. But I also blame “feel good” “prosperity gospel” and “the social gospel” as well.

To the author: you just might come to the conclusion that all of this has been foretold in much of the New Testament…God knows exactly what He is doing!

And, oh yeah, denominationalism too. Catholics don’t need to be hating Protestants and vice versa, but many “Christians” do exactly that. and let’s not forget Christian Identity, that most racist and anti-Semitic groups as well.

Put it all together and that’s why the numbers of Christians in the US are declining.

Forrestcat

The problem with u americans, you have very little choice, your white arrogance and xenophobia closed your eyes to other religions.

I guess u know everything about islam, you know,those people in the desert who bleed your economy trillions of dollars….

Buddhism/taoism..a religion that never needed to send an army to china,that humbled the industroous chinese and japanese….why bother with voodoo magic turning water into wine and walking on water when the buddhist taoist believed a stone minkey fly on clouds and turned their heaven upside down and wrestked with the buddha..

Not to mention hinduism..which is ridiculed by the west as archaic due to its caste syste with its rich histpry of endless battles between demonds and gods..such as the Ramayana which will make the stories of jesus and the bible tales little more than third rate literature..the rich tales of hinduism is perfectly illustrated on the walls of angkor wat way before the christians had their empty cathedrals built on loot from he new world…

Indeed humans have a strange sense of beliving in the unseen or concepts in life..that is why heathens use gods and goddesses to represent elemsnt of life..god of agricuoture and god of commerce…soemthing that is missing in chsristianity which is why christians are easily buffonned priests who,perverted christian ideals like ursury….on the other hand…the gods and goddesses of buddhism retain their ideals for thousands of years unchanged…hence you see the ideals of confucianism that is is imbued into taoism/buddhism continue to shaoe chinese cukture today for exampke education, hinduism hadtheir sarawathy goddess to propagate education among hindus ..even islam despite a monitheist have prophet mohammad represent a businessmen,a huband, a king and even an economist which guide muslim life…for example islamic finance which structky ban ursury is now an emerging financial tool for the world..

What does christianity offered..even christmas is the birthday of the son god of old Romans? Colonialism….ethnic cleansing and two world wars and yes the wars in the middle east..the chinese are not impressed that the christiansb that forbade ursury succumb to debt and being cowed by zionists until today..the muslims continue to fight tooth and nail to send your crusaders back home in coffins or jobless on the street.

Christianity has exhausted itself after the end of colonialism and the rise of ursury based colonialism that is contrary to christian principles….what is christianity to the americans?

TimZ

Shouldn’t it be said that the “Church” is the people who follow Jesus Christ and that that means to live like Him and keeping all the commandments as well as doing that which is “good”? Church is NOT a building where people congregate and so to claim they are a “Christian”; “Christianity” is a living/doing “Church” that is a/the way of life for all claiming such.

Empty pews in a “church” may be the sign that God really doesn’t like “mans” way and because most have forgotten His (Gods)way.

Defining “Christianity” lightly is the real problem in the hearts of man. Especially since all who claim it are to live a holy life but may not truly live it because of reasons unaware/aware.

Do peoples works, or even any part of their works show forth the “faith” that they claim? Does any know what “works” are?

All I see today in this lust for sin world are mostly liars. People want to “look and claim” the part (Christianity) but rarely does any truly live it.

People play the game that God should give them what they want when they want it, and He should do what they want Him to do how and when they want it it done, but they themselves shouldn’t be expected or required to behave and not sin. You should get the picture.

It’s the evil game of the lie I am me and so God should give and do because…

It is the sin problem in peoples hearts that is the problem. People wanting and claiming something (Christian)that they are not and for any reason and foolishly thinking it is okay as long as they speak it and/or “look” it.

As you can see from “The Shocking Decline Of Christianity In America” and in the whole world, fake is fake. A lie is a lie no matter how well disguised as “Christianity”.

If you want His (Gods) blessings more frequent in your life and/or country/world then maybe you should start by talking to God and really learning what “works” are and living them. Here one should know because they read The Holy Bible, and do because they love God.

Have we attempted to make (subjugate) God to be our slave because we don’t get it because to get it would mean to admit our ignorance, our selfish greed, our lies, our sins and from such things repent? I guess maybe there is little or no repentance coming from any in any true form or this article would not even exist.

And what part of the narrow path do people not understand? Or is that they want a payday without working?

Can any nation exist long under God? Under lies and all forms of deceit? Let us do a real thorough check of where our hearts really are. Be it with God and His ways, or our ways? Which do we really serve?

It has to be Gods way in and for our life or we lose it all. We lose any claim to “Christianity”, we lose our “Nation”, and we could lose everlasting life.

God has given us His word. What have we given?

Paul Lukitsch

I am not sure if it was already said in the comments as I could not read them all… But only wanted to add that Christianity has seen its steepest decline in the past 20 years or so.

The primary causes for this are i) access to the internet, which broadens once perspective about different people or cultures, and further is a very lively place for debate with no stone left unturned. I think the young people who grew up with the internet (Millennials) and also, though slightly less a factor, the generation before them, have or will abandon Christianity. There is too much information out there to consume. Yes some is wrong or has some ill-intent. But mostly, the young people will grow to understand the reason man adopted religion and the history of Christianity, and when shown against the backdrop of the world today, these individuals will know that it was a tool for times before us.

The young Christians won’t make hasty judgments… and it will take a little time. But the “fellowship” of the church which is losing its competition with the internet, and the unexplainable views of the bible which contrast respect and love for all individuals (i.e., Jesus’ message absent among too many evangelicals today) will be essentially the young people will see a new light: That of reason.

The second reason is because of hypocrisy of those who call themelves Christians, especially in the past 12 years. George Bush was known to be a Christian and he courted the evangelicals. His term is responsible for so many travesties against the Constitution, and also for harms done to this country, all in the name of fighting “terrorism”. The war on terror grew beyond what was reasonable… the wars were not explained to the people, the mainstream media does not over views people find on other news sites that originate in other countries… etc. Bottom line, it is clear that America is getting worse and worse…. and it was done largely with a Christian at the helm — this doesn’t mean I spare no contempt for Obama, as he is truly no better.

I do not think it salvageable… once knowledge is let out from the dark — and in this case, once it is distributed… The notion of any faith, no matter how ingrained it might have been in you, will ultimately succomb to reason.

Many people defending Christianity and in pronouncing it is the end, and saying the country is dying… are all too focused on their faith to care about this Country…. we may feel like a Theocracy… but this country was not intended to be one.

And, if I have to say it one more time (!!!) — the founding fathers were the farthest thing from “primarily Christians”!!!! They were deists or unitarians or atheists — who might have attended services as it was customary. But in examining the writings of Madison, Jefferson, Franklin, Monroe, etc. not one of them holds their faith, whatever it was, very high. These were definitely men of reason — NOT men of God.

Further,

Kyle

Society needs religion for numerous reasons. Mainly because value systems are based on religious texts. First, it helps regulate human behavior. It teaches people to be self-sufficient and the virtues of taking care of one-self while making it an option to engage in charity. This produces a spiritually guided work ethic that societies have been built on. Religion helps instill cooperation in people and discourages selfish behavior when the good of the many is at stake.

The main importance for religion is it gives you something to believe in other than yourself. Without the Law of God, the highest authority we as mortals are expected to uphold is the Law of Man, which has been proven to be far from perfect time and time again. There has to be something that we measure ourselves against other than each other. Even if there wasn’t a God (which I believe there is), having the idea of one helps in more ways than it hurts. This makes even a fictional deity worth worshipping. The values taught in the Bible can help make you a better person just as the teachings in other religions can as well.

Society comes apart at the seams when God is neglected. Remember, God never turned his back on us. We have so don’t forget that. If wars are conducted under the guise of false-prophets who slander the name of Christianity by using it as the mascot for their evil wars and corruption realize it isn’t the idea of religion itself that caused that. People with their selfish agendas corrupt it and the gelatin minds that are fooled into accepting it. There’s nothing wrong with the ideas; it’s the people. That’s why I don’t go to church because my relationship with God is personal. Another reason why you never see me with my crucifix necklace outside my shirt. Always tucked underneath.

http://www.capd.com.au Lawrence Myers

Dear Readers,
No well-informed Christian person can believe in the following absolute statements:
2) Believing that the Bible is completely accurate in all of the principles it teaches.
4) Believing that a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or by doing good works.
There is much that Protestant people believe that is just not true. On my website http://www.capd.com.au I seriously question whether Protestants are even Christian!
The statement – 2) Believing that the Bible is completely accurate in all of the principles it teaches – depends on what version or translation one is reading. No Protestant Bible is accurate – for a start they exclude seven books which have been accepted by Catholics since the Council of Rome in AD 382. The best English translation of the Bible is the Douay-Rheims Bible – if Protestants started reading it they would not be Protestants for long.
The other statement – 4) Believing that a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or by doing good works – requires some modification. It is true that no person can enter Heaven by JUST doing good works. It is also true that no person can enter Heaven UNLESS they have performed good works.
These days only 1 in 1000 Catholic persons actually believes and practices what the Catholic Church has traditionally believed and taught.
In my opinion, the US has no future if Protestants do not convert to the Catholic Faith that is practised by the present Remnant of the Catholic Church – namely the 1 in 1000.
Yours in Christ, Laurie Myers, Christian Activist, Sydney, Australia 7 March 2012

Mike Smitty

What does this decline of Christianity in America mean? Here are some key bullets about the future of America:
1. A Rise of The New Age Religions (Generally a Mixture of religions combined into one religion)
2. The rise of Paganism, or Eastern Religions
3. A slow gradual expanse towards science, empiricism, logic, and reason to explain the objective claims of the universe, such as the origin of life, and the origin of the universe.
4. Supernatural explanations will continue to be replaced, with natural explanations, such as abiogenesis, replacing supernatural design. People will be more open to agnosticism, on claims they do not know.
5. The rise of fringe Christian groups, where they try to combat this, by whatever means possible, to stop the decline of Christianity.
6. America, will focus more on globalism, and the idea of the 21st century political ideology, versus the 18-20th century idea of politics.
7. Religious ideas, will continue to more as mythology or allegories, rather than literal truths.
8. The church and state separation will be in danger, as Christians (or some other religious group) might try to use the government to get special favor for a religion, via the political process.
9. The churches will re-engineer the bible, to fit the modern day, so that they can remain in business, but this will lead faster to the demise of Christianity.
10. Christianity, and other religions, will become a pseudo-psychology, sociological function, versus being a message of the divine.
11. Atheism/irreligious, and non-Christian based religions will continue to grow, in marginal feats.
12. Christianity will become the minority, but not anytime soon.
13. Scientific advancement will make people, more trust worthy of science, and scientist, and experts, rather than religious experts.
14. Christianity, and other religions, will continue to be marginalized.
15. Christianity, and other religions, will have less authority in society, in America.
16. Christianity, will have an increase in members, during the economic downturn, but after that, it will lose numbers, but even with that, Christianity will have a decline.
17. Christianity, will lose its credibility, as core doctrines, will be shown to be faulty.
18. America, will become more like a European economic system.
19. Some Christians, will become hopeless, as Christianity, continues to decline.
20. America, will not be the only super power in the future, there will be competing ones.
21. America will continue to become more secular.
22. Christians, will change their interpretation of the bible, to fit the modern day.
23. The Catholic Church, will continue to remain the leading sect.

johnny England

I have been a life long Catholic. Because you are a Cotholic and Christain does not mean to never struggle with the super-natural part of the faith. We all do to some degree! But what is undeniable is the value of the faith. If Jesus Christ was not the son-of God, which we has Catholics believe, he had an incredible wisdom. If you think back the barbaric nature of the world 2000 years ago, where ruler relied on torture and fear for their own selfish interests, Jesus Christ changed the world. His words healed in a time were blood and torture were an everyday occurance.

The primary focus of Christians is love and charity to our fellow human beings. It is all about living in peace with one’s self by making the right decisions and conducting ourselves as Jesus would have wanted. Stop the condeming, the bad mouthing, killing, torture and fight our self centered and ego tendencies, and adopt and bigger approach to our lives. Live for something other than material possessions and money, over filling our stomachs with food and alcohol, and and spend our days badgering and bad mouthing others to make ourselves look better. There is an inner peace with many Catholics, and it stems from following Jesus as our example. Jesus condemned sin, but never the sinners. He told the sinner to go and sin no more!

George Carlin (who was a Catholic as a young man and later rejected his faith) does a skit about being a Catholic. He esentually make fun of Catholics and Christians. Yet, him and his wife were both strung out on drugs and alcohol and living in the back seat of a car! I think I will continue my Catholic Faith, because I know the teachings will lead somewhere meaningful, and not to the bottom of a bottle of booze!

Being a Catholic is a fantastic experience! Yes, it take effort, thought and disipline! Sonething completely lacking in America right now! But the rewards are many! Conducting your life in a meaningful way and with an inner peace! Maybe there should be an survey on the streets of Chicago of the number of people at peace with themselves? Where do you turn to when the waves get rough and high? Booze, eating, abuse, anger, revenge, drugs, yelling, screaming, hitting, bad-mouthing, gossip?

The Catholic Faith is challenging in the most important way! It is challenging specificlaly about ourselves! It is easy to talk about the fault of others, not so easy about ourselves! The next time you read the bible or go to church and listen to the gospel reading, really think about what is really being communciated! The wisdom may surprise you!

DEREK

CHURCHES THAT HAVE TRIED TO REBUILD AFTER FIRES ARE NOT REBUILDING, ESTABLISHED PARISHES ARE HITTING THE CONGREGATIONS HARDER FOR MORE MONEY THAN EVER, OR SIMPLY CLOSING DOWN! YOU CAN ONLY GIVE SO MUCH IN HARD TIMES AND THEY DON’T SEEM TO GET IT..BECAUSE WHEN YOU GIVE WAY BEYOND YOUR MEANS IT IS SUPPOSE TO COME BACK TEN FOLD…WHEN IT DOESN’T ,REALITY SETS IN AND FUTILITY BECOMES EVIDENT…WE LOSE JOBS ,HAVE LESS MONEY, AND LOSE PATIENCE WITH THE LORD!WE SEE EVIL PEOPLE PROSPER EVERY DAY, AS WELL AS SOCIOPATHIC LIARS AND USERS,HEART BREAKERS CRUSH THE KIND, THE SOFT OF HEART! THEY LAND UPRIGHT MOST OF THE TIME~NO WONDER THE RANKS ARE THIN…AND THE”LORD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAY” THING HAS WORN THIN FOR THOSE WHO STRUGGLE, HURT AND ARE ALONE, DESPERATE OR ON THE FRINGES!

Ryan S.

Crazy Christian Bible Bashers

A concerned young AmeriCan Patriot

I am a Catholic, and have been all of my life; I have atheist friends, and we get along just fine, except on the subject of religion. I do not try to force people to Christianity (doing so would be against God’s gift of free will), but they often try to refute my beliefs in God and Jesus. It is despicable how many people who cry for tolerance are intolerable to others. Jesus taught us to “hate the sin, love the sinners,” and no, I am not advocating the horrible deeds people have done in the name of Christianity, Christianity never says that any person has the right to take the life of another. People always point out the crusades, but fail to realize that all religions and atheism have all had sects who have persecuted others because of differentiating opinions. May the judgement of God be swift and Christ our lord come again to renew this forsaken world.

Everyone just remember, no human (except Jesus) is perfect, and those that plead otherwise are the antithesis of freedom.
If this didn’t make sense, I am tired and will attempt to make more sense tomorrow, 2AM on the EC

gary

at the end of economic depression dere’ll b 0%christians and 100% atheists

http://faithofourmothers.ca Maxine Dickie

It’s all too easy for true believers to get side-tracked looking at all that is wrong with the Church and with ‘right-wing’ Christianity. It gets to the point where the true Christian faith is lost in all the fear-mongering, judging, etc. There is a genuine place for the ‘right’ and that is a place of true righteousness before God which comes by nothing short of the power of the cross applied to one’s own life. We desperately need a standard of righteousness raised in the land, as well as a true ministry of justice that flows from that righteousness. We can’t have one without the other. “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.” Justice is defined by true righteousness – by the power of the cross. But as the psalmist said “when the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

In my overcoming testimony I articulate some possible solutions for the free Judeo-Christian world, on faithofourmothers.ca and faithofourfathers.ca

Ralph N

There is a lot more information available. People are reading much more and no longer just nod their head in agreement with everything the preacher might say. People are rejecting many Biblical “events” as the numbers just do not add up. Try, for example, to do the math for the Great Flood – read the Bible – it states the flood lasted 40 days/nights and the water prevailed for another 150 days and then another 40 days to “dry out” – 230 days asea for those critters. How much food was necessary to feed those critters = 4,000 – 5,000 bales of hay just to get started – what about the meat eaters – no refrigeration so how about chickens – another 4 or 5 thousand birds and we have only coverd about 25% of living critters. It just does not add up. Christian teachings must be brought up to date and fast if the Christian Church is to survive.

Eman Surin

Hi Friends, I am from India. USA is today a super power/developed country just because this country was founded on CHRISTIANITY. You are blessed today just because of your forefathers according to verse Matthew 6:33 Seek first…… So do stick to CHRISTIANITY pals! Be proud of being a CHRISTIAN. Otherwise, the day is not far away when you will be last according to verses Matthew 19:30 and 20:16 and Country like INDIA will be ahead of YOU. I am praying for YOU.

AMEN

Ebonie

I have attended churches after churches to find a bible based church. What I have found is the body of Christ is broken. We have poverty, depression, divorce, pornography in the body of Christ. Nobody wants to talk about the problems that keeps plaguing the churches. We don’t stand out from the world. We are not praying like we say were are praying. We are not reading the bible like we should. We have bible ignorance in the body of Christ. We all have different opinions to fit our needs and lifestyle. We are doing more finger pointing and condemning than we are praying. We are allowing the devil to come through the TV, commercials, music etc. What we need to do is come together has one. If this is a Christian nation where are we at. There is no fellowship. We don’t reach out to one another. We are not reaching out to save souls. We don’t pray for one another. What is happening to the Christian community. We are going the wrong way. We need to wake up and start praying for each other, praying for the nation,praying for the president. We need to reconnect with God is the answer. We are loosing this generation.

Bryan VanHoose

When a society rejects the absolute authority of Gods Word a decline in Spiritual matters occurs.leading to a increase in immorality (sin). This leads to the decline decay and ultimate destruction of that society. Prosperity in every aspect of a social system is proportional to their relationship and obedience to God. Deuteronomy 28. These are not my opinions nor my truths. They are Gods truths. Anyone with the willingness to research these facts may come
To know
His truth.

sean

When a society is increasingly literate, information savvy, and can share ideas faster than ever before;
..and when the lay person can read world history from their phone and not from the confines of a church or classroom, well then christianity is in big trouble…

christianity thrived in an age of feudalism, when reading was a privilege.

the printing press and the birth of protestantism happened around the same time and place, and this is not a coincidence..

now we are absorbing more information in a day than our for-bearers had in a lifetime

and thankfully christianity will become extinct

Gods Word is in the eye of the beholder

immorality (sin) is subjective and relative

and our society will flourish because that is what we as humans do.

Prosperity in every aspect of a social system is ultimately where this wild vine of humanity will spread to.

Anyone who still insists that they have a line on what the bible-god of the christian faith mandates ..well, it just isn’t cute anymore. it isn’t folksy anymore, it isn’t apple pie anymore.

in this day and age of war and culture war it just sounds horrible and backwards.

we as westerners, we are supposed to know better by now. we are supposed to be leading the world out of this and into something new, relevant, and tolerant of human expansion and evolution.

this is all being documented now. and the chances are that in the not so distant future when the monster of christianity has been put to bed once and for all.. oh what a good chuckle our grandchildren will have at our folly.

http://yahoo.com Intellectual

It’s the age of information folks
As we become more educated this trend will continue. It will eventually stabilize since superstition won’t be completely eliminated but hopefully it will marginalize ignorant irrational ideas to the history dustbin of flat earth societies and the geocentric universe.

Beauman

The reason people dont believe in God anymore is because they dont fear him like they should. This will soon change. Remeber Hell is a long time.

Derpus

They don’t believe in him because they don’t fear him? Well, clearly your fear of unicorns is what’s keeping you from believing in unicorns. See? You make-a no sense.

Wood

I see a soulless and heartless America. The pride and selfish human will try to defy the statement “you cannot have your cake and eat too”. A robotic America or a “grandma what big teeth you have” America.

Chad

Ya your judgement proves again why young people dont buy into that argument. You cant loose your soul, and I dont need any religious text to tell me, that if I am a good person thats all that matters in God or higher beings eyes. I will go to a similar place in heaven if it is how people think it is, to think otherwise is irrational, even if the so called bible says so. I can have my cake and eat it too, and you will be embarrassed when you get to the other side and realize you are wrong, and remember all the false judments you inflicted on others.

yo

you make no sense

Blanche

Good post, Chad.

S. Fields

The failures of church leadership are great examples of why young people wouldn’t want anything to do with religion. They need only look at the recent debacle of the Catholic Church or the aligning with the republican party (the party of war) by the Christian Coalition to see there is not much Truth in their ways. The role of the Church of Jesus is to teach the Truth. it is not to become embroiled in struggles of power with government. Young people see greed, struggle for power, and intolerance of anything that doesn’t live up to ” the standards” being the mantra of the modern church. There is just not a lot of love in those things. When the church members hate the sinner instead of the sin, they hate everyone. Who would want to be around that? I think it was Ghandi who, when asked why he didnt like Jesus, said “I do like Jesus. I think He was a great man. Its the Christians I don’t like because none of them are like Him”.

sabrina

lame

http://www.facebook.com/jrmedlocksfo Jason R. Medlock

These arguments are specious. There has always been corruption in the Church, beginning with Judas. The failures of a few individuals is not an explanation. And it is ignorance to judge ANY ideology or religion based on the failures of its adherents to live up to what it preaches. No one can fully embody the Truth. But all of us are called to do our best and whenever a people is striving to do so, Love abounds. It is when we reject the pursuit of the Truth that we begin a downward spiral to utter destruction.

Frederick D Boaz Chaudhry

Jason remember one thing, that the USA policy of humanity has brought in numberless Muslim fundamentalist. When you work on humanitarian basis, most people think you are a fool and destruction comes your way.

Blanche

Judas never existed. It’s a symbol for the Jewish people as a whole.

Jesus never existed. He left no footprint on history; all the information we have about him was written by and for Christians. It’s propaganda, nothing more.

Christianity was crafted to fit an elite’s needs, to make the populace easier to govern and control. Hence all the insistence that meekness and passivity are “virtues”, along with complete and absolute obedience to authority.

David Mitchell

You can count the total number of credible scholars who share your views on the historicity of Jesus with one hand, and I’m not exaggerating. Before you suggest that this is due to some conspiracy among biblical scholars, you might do well to reflect that most books espousing this view have so little in the way of academic support that they either need to be self-published, or have to be picked up by the same presses that put out literature that denies the holocaust.

Mike

Actually David at best historians can say that there was a person named Jesus (Yeshua) around that time. That’s it. There is no evidence that this person performed the deeds he did, died on a cross, rose from the dead etc. So yes, the Jesus in the bible is a myth.

Natalie & Peter

Busy is popular. It’s kind of like the new “fine” when someone asks you “How are you?” or “How’s your life?” And being busy blocks you from some of the most precious moments of life… watching your family play “missionaries in Kenya” or being there for the friend who needs you.

−

People can mistake busyness for a better lifestyle-or even life choice.

Busy is popular. It’s kind of like the new “fine” when someone asks you “How are you?” or “How’s your life?” And being busy blocks people from some of the most precious moments of life… watching their family play “missionaries in Kenya” or being there for someone who needs them.

People who are good at categorising their lives to priorities often come across as aloof and busy because they become inflexible in creating these “time boundaries” to maintain control and not be overwhelmed.

Whereas others who are not so good at this are also a lot more prone to be the I think it’s a bit of a catch 22, actually. Those who are good at what Tim talks about here and categorizing their lives to priorities often come across as aloof and busy because we become somewhat inflexible in creating these “time boundaries” to maintain control and not be overwhelmed.

God would not create a system in which there was not enough time to do what mattered in eternity. It’s people’s choices that are the problem.

I regularly hear a majority of people say how busy they are, and it does keep them from seeking them out either in friendship or for godly counsel. Being uber-busy is a new take on the old problem of being inhospitable – another area in which to examine people’s hearts and lifestyles and make changes as the Lord directs.

People often say they are very busy. People say it without thinking. This is a message people receive from their culture. A lot of people build up their resume with extra-curricular activities & that’s a lot of pressure they put upon themselves. Beneath this cultural pressure lies a more poignant and sobering truth: busyness is a sign of vanity. A majority of people in our society find their worth through their busyness. If they are busy it must mean that they are important, that they are significant. And the busier they are, the more important they are. At the other extreme, if they are not busy with many things, they begin to feel that their life is empty and worthless. They don’t like feeling worthless, so they make themselves busy. It’s their compulsive circle.
Important to the God:
God does care about his relationship with each of us and how the Believer’s busyness is affecting that. So called Believers only care about being a growing Christian & about being seen as important and significant in the eyes of their peers. Too often so called BelieversI cared more about what they thought of themselves than going out of their way helping a brother or sister in Christ in need.
So called Believers are really busy people. Is that what it means to be a Christian?” Ouch! That was a slap in the face. Believers would have been much better witnesses to people if they weren’t on the go all the time and actually took time to listen and talk & help the needy people. This situation illustrates the reality that a majority of so called Believers have become so over-programmed and over-scheduled that they don’t have the time to take care of the needy people around them. They often don’t want to make time to give the thirsty a cup of water or the hurting an embrace of compassion. Jesus, too, led a busy life, but He never lost sight of the individual. Amidst His ministry and the crowds, Jesus always saw individuals, and He had compassion on them (Matt. 20:34). He took the time to care, and His day was full of holy interruptions that changed the face of eternity.
Whether the so called Believers realise it or not, there are needy people all around them who are suffering alone, who need just one person to care, but they simply don’t care & are self-centred. was sobered by an account in Cries of the Heart by Ravi Zacharias about a terrible incident that took place in New York City some years ago. “The indescribable events that had befallen a young woman’s life are too heartrending to repeat. Feeling the silent pain of a whole city, a state senator agonized, ‘How can so much go wrong in a needy person’s life and no bloody so called Believer be aware of it? For the so called Believer life is too busy for them to hear the cry of every needy person such as their own brother & sister in Christ in their community. As a matter of fact, they even are 2 busy to find time to even hear the cries of their own family…If the cries of the heart in any community were to be cumulatively sounded, the noise would be deafening, which it is anyway’. In the middle of the noise of the so called Believer’s lives, they often miss the cries of those around them,those right under their noses. Many so called Believers slip without the message of hope the gospel brings while they are busily going about their business Conferences than helping the needy. By leading such busy lives, they lose the ability to care, hurt deeply the needy & their fellow brothers & sisters in need, and give themselves away. They make no time to sit with a needy person to give them comforting & encouraging words, etc….
3. Be honest with God about not wanting to take the time to actively care for others.

Majority so called Believers handball needy people such as myself Natalie & my son Peter by saying to us “I will pray for you.” While prayer is powerful and should always be a part of genuine caring, but for many people such as me & my son who are in need, prayer is not enough. The so called Believers here in Australia excuse themselves from caring by thinking all they have to do is pray when it is in their ability to do more. 1 John 3:18 says, “Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” Our faith needs to take action when it comes to caring. An anonymous author sums this up well: “I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me. You seem so holy; so close to God; But I’m still very hungry, and lonely, and cold…” Christian caring is love in action, and demands that Believers should roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. Jesus, after all, emptied Himself of all comfort, allowing His body to be dirtied – soiled with blood and our sin – when He was crucified because He cared about us.

In many ways the so called Believer’s busyness, if they look long enough, reveals our their own selfishness. So called Believers can easily develop a “selective caring” mentality: “As long as it doesn’t cost much or intrude on their ‘ministry time,’ they will care.” As Christians, all mankind should be their “passion” just as it was Christ’s. Christ said the greatest demonstration of love is to give up one’s life. Believers need to do a lot more dying to themselves if they are going to genuinely love their fellow brothers & sisters in Christ & the needy, such as me & my son.

A majority of so called Christians spend too much time serving in their own church ministry and not serving the needy & other communities.

A majority of so called Christians all over the world are simply too busy to help the needy such as me & my son 4 home help etc. They spend their days rushing from one task to the next, they have erroneously allowed their busyness to get in the way of developing a relationship with God & not helping the sick & the needy. The accelerated pace and activity level of the modern day has distracted them from the One who created them for Himself and completely separated them from the joyful and victorious life that He desires for them.

Because the so called Christians have assimilated to a culture of busyness, hurry, and overload, God & the needy people has become marginalized in their lives, and this has led to a deteriorating relationship with God. As their relationship with God deteriorates, they become even more vulnerable to adopting secular priorities and ideas about how to live, and this in turn causes them to conform even more to the standards of the unbelieving world.

Many who call themselves Christians are not following the example of Jesus Christ, whom they profess to be their Lord. In the Bible, we read as follows: “In the morning, while it was still very dark, Jesus got up and went out to a deserted place, and there He prayed.” [Mk 1:35] Jesus drew away from the rush and bustle of life in order to reconnect with His Father because His priorities were right. He didn’t allow the busyness of life to distract Him from His relationship with His Father, and neither should the Believers.

Whether the so called Believers want to accept this truth or not, they try to be as close to God as they think they are. They are too busy to spend time reading God’s Word and not helping the sick & the needy, as that’s because this is the path they have chosen for themselves; no one forced them to walk it.

The so called Believers who spend all of their waking hours working, whether at the office or at home, or @ their local Church yet set apart no time to sit with God, talk with God, and listen to God in helping the sick & the needy, they are endangering their own souls. They are attempting to live the Christian life in the power of their own feeble strength instead of spending time with God in order to receive His strength in helping others & saving souls.

If the so called Believer spends 8 to 10 hours at work each day, and then comes home and spend the rest of their waking hours mowing the lawn, cleaning the pool, washing clothes, and performing other household tasks, while completely neglecting time with God in prayer, didn’t help the person that needed help as their attitude should not be, “when I get my work done, then I will pray 4 u”.

A lot of people get offended at messages like this because it exposes the way they live and the priorities they have adopted in their lives. They want God on their terms, not on His terms. They want the things of this world, with a little bit of God on the Sunday morning side, and when someone comes along and exposes the wrong priorities in their lives, they take offense, when they would do better to repent.

The so called Believers would do well to closely examine their lives to see if they are truly living the God-centered lives they were created by Him to live.

When the so called Believer dies, they will be buried six feet under and their job will go to someone else. The Church Luncheon Meetings etc, and hobbies that they put before time spent with God & in helping the sick & the needy will not go into the ground with them.

The so called Christians make excuses when it comes to their negligence in helping the sick & the needy in the communities, and their refusal to center their lives on a personal relationship with God.

“Woe to those who neglect prayer!
He who does not help the sick & the needy people dooms himself to Hell!”

Practical Ministry:

This is where most so called Believers fail: they’re great at explaining the gospel and talking relentlessly to people about it — but are horrible at actually carrying it out into practice 4 the sick & needy people.

With their extreme busyness of their culture, so called Christians have stopped emphasizing practical ministry in full. Participating in church now means attending weekly services — but rarely requires anything beyond that. They even don’t go out into the world and be missionaries,sacrificially, helping the needy with housework etc & not humbly, and passionately loving others just as Jesus did — & not practicing what is actually being preached?

Australia is going to hell in a wheelbarrow while hundreds-of-thousands of dead churches all across Australia sit idle and do absolutely nothing about it. It is not enough for a pastor to preach three times a week and then go home. Most churches today are more like private social clubs—where a group of people meet together a few times a week, tithe, sing a few songs, hear a sugarstick sermonette, and then go home. That’s what the cults do. The message needs to get outside of the walls of the church! Australia’s preachers have lost their fire.

Our nation is going to hell simply because the so called Christians have forgotten God & the sick & needy people in the communities.

Most so called Christian preachers are wimps and don’t have the courage to stand against sin. Making money is their main love and concern. They’re afraid of losing support so they dip their sails. What good are convictions as a preacher if you don’t take a stand? You can post a big sign that says, “God loves people” as well. All I’m saying is that Australia is going to hell while churches all across the country are letting it happen.
“For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.” —Jeremiah 10:21

A majority of so called Believers who go to church every Sunday and tithe 10% of their income think they are so spiritual, sadly, they’ve only given God 2% of their life. If you work 40-hours at your job, 10% of that is 4-hours. There are 168-hours in a week. So you’ve only given God 2% of your total time (i.e., 4 divided by 168). Ask any business man and he’ll agree… time is money. So, big deal if you’ve given God 10% of your income, in reality you’ve only given 2% of your time to God & to the sick & needy people of the communities. God & the sick & needy people need the Believer’s time too!! There is no call to soulwinning, it is a command for all believers.(Proverb 11:30; Matthew 28:19-20; 2nd Corinthians 5:11).

Jesus was disturbed over the fact that the unsaved people of His day were more on the ball than the Christians were.

Why Are The So Called Christian Churches Silent?
“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” —1st Peter 4:17

God hates the so called Believer’s festivals; He doesn’t enjoy the so called Believer’s joyous assemblies. God is not pleased 4 the so called Believer’s burnt offering and gifts of food. He won’t even look at their offerings of well-fed animals. God hates the noise of the so called Believer’s songs; And he won’t listen to the melody of the so called Believer’s harps.

There was no transcendence, no beauty or mystery. God simply wouldn’t show up.

Why? Because the so called Christians who worshipped God on their special festival and worship days, didn’t actually live as if God even existed all of the rest of the days of the year. They separated their lives into different compartments; they put God-matters into their so called Christian category, but everything else was political or social or economic or personal.

A majority of so called Believers seemed to recognize that God actually cares more about those things than in the number of candles on the altar.

God is looking for shalom to break out in every corner of human society. And when God can’t see that, when all God can see and hear is a few old souls singing, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” and lighting a few candles in memory of their loved ones, then no wonder that God stops showing up.

The point of church is, and has always been, the coming of the kingdom of God. When the so called Christians stopped yearning for it, hoping for it, and working for it, that is why God lost interest. When the so called Christians turned church into a feel-good, self-help 4 making money such as BUMS ON SEATS SESSION.

The whole point of the so called Christian worship, then, is to re-imagine the world as the kind of place that God originally designed, and then to go out and live in that reawakened imagination.

The so called Christians stopped doing justice in their everyday lives, as their worship experience has been invalidated and cheapened & it longer makes any sense. It loses its tether to earthy reality, current events, local context, and for the sick & needy people which God so desperately cares more about.

The correct response for the so called Believers would have 2 be to STOP going to worship, STOP offering sacrifices and tithes, and BEGIN doing justice for the sick & the needy people in their communities.

Many so called Aussie Christian churches that have followed the seeker-friendly, church growth model have compromised worship by assuming that evangelism should be done simultaneously. So, instead of worshipping, the so called Aussie Christians entertain themselves 4 their own pleasures. Instead of preaching to the Unsaved the full and glorious and sometimes scary truth of His Word, they say what they feel they want people to hear. And people go out feeling good, and entertained…and unchanged. Worship is to be our humble response to the revelations of our Sovereign God. It is He who calls people to Himself according to His will. A friend of mine said it very well: “As we lift up Christ in worship that is acceptable to Him, men are drawn to Him. Our vibrancy, elements of worship, music style, etc. are to be our Spirit-led attempts to enable a Biblical response to God for who He is and what He does. Today God becomes the audience of the so called Believer’s worship and the church is put on display before the lost as the redeemed praising their Saviour.

For those early settlers, the Christian faith was the very center of their lives, and it deeply affected the laws that the so called Aussie Believers made and the governmental structures that they established. So what is the future of Australia going to look like if the so called Aussie Believers totally reject the principles that this nation was founded on?

Natalie & Peter

Q. HOW CAN A CHRISTIAN GROW & CHANGE ANS: THEY NEVER WILL
Me Natalie of 53yrs of age & my son Peter of 28yrs of age don’t have close family members to turn to. I have suffered 4 more than a year with a Bent Pelvic Floor Muscle that I can’t push out my stools properly & I am bedridden &. disabled & my 28yr old son Peter is living with me here in Australia & is my Carer. Even both of us have been trying 2 find good Christian friends have been very difficult to find them because the so called Christians make every excuses that they are busy & have work commitments as well as their church commitments & so on & so on.we have been Isolated true born Christians for 8yrs without any family or friends knowing we exist. We have prayed about this situation as well as reading the Bible but no-one intervened. WHERE HAS CHRISTIANITY GONE TODAY? Bible without our brothers & sisters is DEAD.

We both are feeling increased stress and anxiety over this situation.

Despairingly blaming the so called Believers for our inability to meet our unrealistic needs.

We are feeling everything is out of control, and don’t see a way out because of Christian’s lack of support.

We are feeling loss of energy and constant feeling of exhaustion, emotionally and physically.

We are feeling helpless, hopeless, or on the verge of tears often.

I Natalie have a great loss of interest in my appearance and grooming because of my illness.

We both have change in sleep patterns & sleeplessness as staying up all night.

We both are scattered in our thinking & inability to concentrate, & trapped in constantly circular thinking.

Feeling increasingly very hurt by the way Christians have treated us.

Very isolated & being rejected 4 help because of so called Christian’s excuses being busy & not having the time 2 help us etc…

Not having any energy walking because of my situation.
Inability to relax.

I’m having increasing thoughts of death

Its affecting my health & well-being.

BUT THE SO CALLED CHRISTIANS DONT ACT LIKE CHRISTIANS BECAUSE THEY ARE SELF-CENTRED & SELFISH & DON’T HELP SICK PEOPKE THAT ARE IN NEED AS THEY ARE 2 BUSY WITH THEIR CHURCH CONFERENCE MEETINGS & CHURCH LUNCHEONS. WHERE HAS CHRISTIANITY GONE TODAY? AND HOW CAN A GOOD CHRISTIAN GROW IN CHRIST AFTER SHE HAS PRAYED ABOUT THE CHRISTIANS 2 COME 2 HER BEC & CALL TO SUPPORT HER WITH HER ILLNESS BECAUSE SHE IS BEDRIDDEN & NOT ONE SO CALLED CHRISTIAN CAME FORWARD. YOU ARE NOT TRUE CHRISTIANS U ARE CHILDREN OF SATAN

2. The Carnal Christian “Brothers, I could not

“No one from my church visited me & my son in our time of need.”

Everyone needs a little help at sometime in their life. Why have these so called Christians judge at our point of crisis?

I have helped many people through tough times in their life in my Christian walk. It has now come to my tough time. I am struggling to find the strength to carry on, and are any of the so called Christian people have helped in my lifetime there to offer help to me? No!

We live in a selfish society where everyone only cares about themselves. I am very disheartened to think that there is no-one willing to help me & my son. I have begged for help but no one listens. Even though I have prayed about this many times.

Truly, the “love of money” is the root of the so called Christian’s evil. Most so-called “Christian” publishers and “Christian” TV producers dip their sails in compromise to make more money. Most Christians have been “inoculated.” They listen to Christian words put to the devil’s music and call it “Christian Rock.” But when it comes to a brother & sister’s needs they handball u 2 the Bible & say “Jesus will help you.”

This whole mess has become a big money-making machine; it’s all about money. You can’t listen to a so-called “Christian” radio/TV program without someone trying to sell you something. All these new perversions of the Bible on the market are all copyrighted. This alone should show you the nature of their business—money, money, money.

What’s Behind the Church Walls?

Where is the believer’s light on CHRISTIANITY?

One of the biggest problems with Christians today is that they are hiding their light within the church walls (in a “secret place” as mentioned in Luke 11:33). “Secret place” simply means “hidden place”. Why would a person light a candle and then cover it? Or in today’s thinking, why would you turn on a lamp and then cover it with a box? It is just as ridiculous for a child of God to hide their light from the world. Most believers know the Biblical teaching of the candle being hid under the bushel, but the true meaning just doesn’t register. There are churches all across Australia that meet a couple times a week behind closed doors and the local community has NO IDEA what the church believes. Their candle (light) is well hid.

Most Churches operate like the occult

Do you know what the definition of “occult” is?

OCCULT: Become concealed or hidden from view or have its light extinguished

I hate to say it, but it needs to be said…most churches operate more like occult organizations than they do local New Testament churches. Church members all across America think they only go to church to “worship” God. Show me that in the Bible. Believers are supposed to worship God at all times. Australian churches have fallen into the lie of the devil that believers shouldn’t FORCE their beliefs upon other people. This is simply not true. Christians are supposed to stand up against the evil doers…

“Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” -Psalm 94:16

“Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” -Psalm 94:16

I am saying that most churches operate like the occult. Most communities across Australia know as much about their local church as they do. I believe that every community in Australia should know clearly what their local New Testament church stands for and believes. Will this make some people angry? Of course, but that should not be a factor because God has commanded believers to stand up against evil and iniquity.

Christian Churches today are mainly concerned about making money and going through the religious motions, but their candle is well hidden. When God says in 2nd Timothy 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” If you are not experiencing persecution in this apostate world, then you are not living godly in Christ Jesus.

A Christ-honoring Church Stirs Things Up with the Truth

The early church in the Book of Acts was rocking the boat. They were making people angry by preaching the truth. Some people were martyred, willing to die for the cause of Christ. In acts 19:19 many who had been involved with the occult brought their “curious arts” and burned them in a bonfire. The worth of the books and items were 50,000 pieces of silver (about $48,000 in today’s value, and millions in Bible times). A piece of silver was a day’s wage in the New Testament.

The local idol makers were so enraged at Paul, that the other believers had to keep him from the angry mob waiting to tear him to pieces (Acts 19:30). This is what the truth does friend, it puts the beer companies out of business. It puts the pornographic perverts out of business. It shuts down the taverns and whore houses. The truth cleans up the community. It cause women to keep their babies instead of murdering them. It puts the Rosary makers out of business. It puts the palm readers, Tarot card readers, and psychics out of business. It puts the Godless video game makers out of business. It puts Godless Hollywood and Devilish Walt Disney out of business. It puts the gambling casinos out of business. The truth puts the strip joints and nightclubs out of business. Praise God, when Jesus returns at the Second Coming, He will put all these evil people out of business!!!

Please notice that the early believers didn’t just preach a salvation message. The Apostle Paul preached about all the things concerning the kingdom of God (Acts 19:8). I actually had a preacher tell me, that when I came to his church, he only wanted me to preach a “salvation message.” He didn’t like me teaching that all modern Bibles are corrupt. He didn’t like when I preached against liquor. He didn’t like when I preached against bars and nightclubs. He didn’t like when I exposed the lies of Roman Catholicism. And he hated when I preached with zeal and fervor. He actually accused me of shouting at the people from the pulpit. I was shouting at anybody, I was zealously proclaiming the truth with excitement. I don’t know about you, but I get exciting knowing that I have found the truth in Christ Jesus.

Until Christ returns, believers are responsible to stand against the evils of their day (Psalm 94:16). The truth will make people angry. The truth will cause others to come to God in repentance. The truth is emotional. The truth demands an answer. The truth cannot be ignored forever. The truth is the truth! 2nd Thessalonians 2:10 tells us that we should receive the love of the truth. Do you love the truth? Now, You don’t like to know of bad things, but you need to know the truth. You must know the truth!

A lot of so called Believers are Preaching Lies

So many Christians have their own concepts of what the Bible teaches. Obviously, some are correct and others are very wrong. Truth is intolerant! 2 + 2 = 4. You can sincerely believe that 2 + 2 = 5, but you are dead wrong. There is no compromise, there is no diversity. The modern-day neo-evangelical church preaches a watered-down gospel, but little else. This is the crowd that says it really doesn’t matter which Bible you use. They don’t fuss over MAJOR doctrinal differences such as the blood of Jesus, etc. Basically, they are a liability to the name of Christ.

Most Christians Don’t Care About the Truth

The problem with many Christians is that they either don’t care about the truth or they don’t preach the truth outside of the church walls. It’s critical that Australian churches get riled up about the truth and proclaim it uncompromisingly and without apology. The problem with most Christians is that they’re at ease on Zion, complacent in their salvation…

“How shall they escape, if they neglect so great salvation…” -Hebrews 2:3

God saved believers to do more than fill up 18 inches of pew. The problem with most Christians today is that they’re “sitting on the premises” instead of “standing on the promises.” The world needs the true people of God not only ministering the word but the DOER by putting it into practice such as physically helping people in need of housework & other chores or support them in their CRISIS etc…

I am in so many tears ,& I need your support in what I need 2 do in this situation. I am still communicating with our Lord Jesus, but he is not 2 blame it’s the so called Christian’s hearts that have hardened & made that CHOICE in not helping me & my son in our CRISIS !

Unfortunately, there are many needy people in this planet such as me & my son,some with very complicated problem situations involving emotional and physical issues leading to a lifetime of baggage; some requiring professional help.

Australia unfortunately has plenty of so called pastors who can lead from a platform through teaching and preaching but do little else to connect with their people throughout the week. It seems to me that the church has developed most of its programs around “come to us” in stead of the mandate to “go and multiply”? Multiply leaders who will go outside the walls of the church 168 hours each week to meet people such as me & my son where they can meet our needs, but NO their JOBS & CHURCH CONFERENCES etc are their main focus instead if the NEEDY !!!

My son & I have been trying to get across that people such as ourselves need to be called or ministered to some way throughout the week. My son & I have been going through a life crises, several all at once, and did not feel support from all the so called Christian Churches in Australia in which my son & I were previously attending. Someone would ask how my son & I are & I would say I’m in pieces, but they didn’t seem to care enough to follow up. My son & I were yearning for someone, anyone, to connect with, period, and especially emotional support throughout the week in what my son & I are going thru, but the so called Christians are blind to when my son & I are in need. I think unless you’ve been in those shoes, you don’t know what to do. Love is the key. Love as Jesus did. And Jesus didn’t only love on Sundays when churches have SUNDAY Services . He didn’t even wait for people to “come” to him. He went “out” to the people. Why aren’t Christians coming out 2 visit the people in need instead if making excuses they are BUSY or have other commitments?

“There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.” —Proverb 30:14

My son & I need your support here, & a lot of your advice how our so called Australian Christians won’t come out to visit me & my son, even though my son had told them that I can’t move & in a lot of pain & bedridden they didn’t give a dam !!!

Plz don’t even try 2 pray 4 us as we have prayed on our situation 4 over 2 yrs & don’t even bother giving me any of your bible scriptures so that u will wash your hands from me & my son as in God’s word it says if your brother or sister is in crisis u need 2 give support not only thru the Bible & Prayer but in ACTION!! FAITH WITHOUT WORKS SUCH AS PUTTING INTO PRACTICE IS SIMPLY DEAD!!!!

Christian Support dosen’t exist anymore, so plz give us good advice what my son & I need 2 do, as we are both very isolated here on our own with no family or friends as people in our area stick 2 themselves & don’t care, but opening a Bible & only praying 2 God isn’t enough 4 me & my son as God tells us we also need the fellowship of our brothers & sisters, but where are they? Even though my son has called every church in Australia not one Christian has come forward from the will of God 2 help us even though my son told them that I’m bedridden they didn’t give a dam & made every excuse 2 get out of it.

Please, you are our last resort in how 2 go about this situation in getting Christians coming 2 our house 4 MORAL SUPPORT as well as SPIRITUAL SUPPORT such as praying with us & spending quality time with us etc. Does that mean that if u are born again & are isolated fully with no one caring about u that my son & I will go 2 hell, even though we are still SAVED? Because that’s how I feel right now Ken, very isolated & I still talk 2 God, but God to me isn’t enough without the Christians by my side, but I can’t force them if they don’t want 2 be my friend & I asked The Lord the same thing about why Christians choose not 2 help or support us in our time of CRISES.

Blanche

No, S. Fields, that’s not the problem at all. When Christian churches could exercise a monopoly over society, as with the medieval Church and in small towns, they could flourish, as everyone had to belong or face overwhelming persecution. Yes, Christians have always been the *worst* persecutors. Now that most people live in urban areas, there are many different social options, and our secular laws prohibit Christians from terrorizing and murdering those who won’t go along. And thus, we see Christianity collapsing. Every religion’s best bet for new members is its existing members’ children, but most of these children are too smart for the church. No religion is growing via the conversion of educated adults. No religion has a viable strategy for appealing to the masses. Now that birthrates are falling worldwide, even this means of adding to the membership is failing. And don’t believe those numbers – most religions count their members’ offspring from birth and never remove them from their membership rolls, even if those babies grow up to become atheists or members of a completely different religion. The Christian totals come from the World Christian Encyclopedia, whose Evangelical Christian editors know what side their bread is buttered on. It’s very likely that there are more Buddhists in the world than members of any other religion.

pucksprite2

Christianity only flourished under the iron grip of homogenous small town America, where people’s access to information and alternative ideas was strictly limited and prohibited by powerful Christian adults in the community. But alas, then came the media and the internet, and doubters were no longer insolated in their communities. Urban areas have exploded bringing with them a mix of cultures and world views. The stigma of being a pariah for daring to defy the church has slowly waned as people have been given alternative ways of becoming connected. And then came 9/11. America and the World finally woke up to the reality that these little fairy tales aren’t just harmless superstitions anymore. That is why the number of nonbelievers is soaring.

Chad

ya in response to your fairytale comment, you only have to watch the first part of the documentary Zeitgeist to understand that much of the bible is more about astrology.

Blanche

Great post and insight, pucksprite2. Well done.

dangus

The reason people don’t believe in god anymore is they’re turned off by people who say things like the above.

Chad

yes exactly, people like beauman, dont realize they are agents of the darkside or contributing to it when they try inflict emotional terrorism on people! But hey at least your not trying to kill people like they do in other countries if you dont believe in the countries one true religion.

http://www.facebook.com/jrmedlocksfo Jason R. Medlock

Interestingly enough, though I too find that approach hard to hear, bear in mind that our Lord Jesus Christ spoke more about Hell and condemnation than most anything else.

rerics

He also spoke an awful lot about being meek, charitable, giving away all of your possessions, and loving your enemies. Yet how many Christians take *that* seriously enough to actually put into practice?

felix1999

LOL!

Have YOU given away ALL your possessions? Hmmm? BTW, that is NOT proper teachings of the Bible. Even Paul didn’t take a dime, from the people he witnessed to. He worked as a tent maker. For the same reason YOU don’t give away all your possessions is the same reason Christians don’t do something so idiotic. A Christian is supposed to provide for themselves and family and others but not to the extreme of impoverishing themselves for YOU.

Blanche

Except that JESUS said that you’re supposed to! See Matthew 19:21-24, Matthew 6:19-21, Luke 12:33, and the Parable of the Rich Fool – Luke 12:14-21, for just a few examples.

Also, you’re supposed to abandon your family and all your responsibilities for Jesus. According to Jesus, that is. Unless you’re a woman – Jesus only taught for men.

Christians ignore the supposed teachings of their supposed jesus because they think those supposed teachings are stupid. All they want is the supposed jesussy “sacrifice” so that they can get an eternity of bliss for doing nothing more than thinking special thoughts. It’s no surprise so many people hold Christians and Christianity in contempt – the Christians and Christianity have earned it.

Leanne

Would you say this in reality? Because that’s kind of offensive to about an entire 1/3 of the world.

SandyRavage

What Beauman said is offensive to the other 2/3s

felix1999

No he is just stating the obvious. According to God, either you believe in Him, or you don’t. According to Christianity if you DO believe in Him etc. you will go to heaven. If you reject Him, then you will NOT go to heaven. It’s really that simple.

What always puzzles me is why do people get so upset over straight forward LOGIC and especially when they make no bones about REJECTING Him and ridiculing Christianity. Could it be that deep down they KNOW He is real?

The truth is He will take you back anytime. He loves all of us. No sin is too great to forgive.

Blanche

“God” never said anything. Not to anyone. The people who claim to have gotten brain-messages from “God” are likely mentally ill. So you believe what some scammers and delusionals say “God” said or did or whatever. I’m sorry you’re so credulous and foolish – but then again, Christianity has always prized foolishness above all. You’re in the right place, I guess. You actually believe that “heaven” nonsense!! LOL!! Hint: Wanting something to be real doesn’t make it real.

SandyRavage

It doesn’t matter if its “logical” or not. The Westboro Baptist Church’s beliefs following logically from their assumptions. Your beliefs may also from your premises as well, but that doesn’t make them any less offensive to non-believers.

Carey

I think this shows that watching TV for 4 hours a night and failing to read the Bible for weeks and months at a time, combined with a failure of many pastors to preach the Bible, including its confrontational teachings about living a holy life, dealing with sin in the Body of Christ, and controversial subjects like homosexuality, has lead to a weakening of the Church, especially in the US and Europe. This weakening has lead to mediocre Christianity that turns unbelievers off. We are phonies who “acknowledge Jesus with our lips and walk out the door and deny Him by our life-style.” Christians need to turn off the TV and computer and open the Gospel. The truth of the Word of God changes people from within, leading to stronger families and a stronger nation.

Chad

ya maybe they need to restructure the church, get rid of the buildings, go outside form circles lol, have discussions/questions on diferent topics, apply it to modern times, dont play over the top cheesy music at church lol. If people can be good withought religion than religion still serves a purpose to jump off of. The deeper problem is, and can never be fixed, that the religious leaders can not change anything in it today, because it would not be the word of god, but maybe the word of human, maybe humans will outgrow religion, and find that being good and nice has its own psychological/emotional reward all in its self.

Frederick D Boaz Chaudhry

First of all do not sell the church buildings and in no case a mosque should be allowed to erect. The mosque endanger the atmosphere and people are drawn towards the call, in Arabic language which they themselves do not understand well, except the Arabian people.

Blanche

Nice bigotry, Frederick. If Christians want to have the privilege of erecting churches, then Muslims will be allowed the same privilege of erecting mosques. It’s despicable how racist and hateful Christians are – isn’t the Great Commandment supposed to be that you’re supposed to love your neighbor as yourself? That means that you don’t recommend restrictions on your Muslim neighbor that you would not welcome on yourself. Why do I need to explain this over and over and over to Christians? What’s wrong with them??

Blanche

Carey, reading the bible is many Christians’ way out of Christianity. Atheists and agnostics are far more knowledgeable about the contents of the bible than Christians are. In fact, Christians are more likely to remain Christians if they never read the bible. It’s full of despicable, repellent garbage, even stuffed into the mouth of the supposed jesus. Example: “But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.” – Jesus (Luke 19:27)

Chad

I only have to look to the stance on homosexuality in the bible to know that it is either not divine or men of those times tampered with the teachings. Not to say that it might have partial truth. God can not be all powerful if he has a force that can challenge him such as the devil. Either that part is exagerated, the devil doesnt exist, or that God is both good and evil combined, and that evil maybe is a necessary tool only if you believe in that we get multiple lives, thats the only way that makes sense to me along with all kinds of other circumstances.

Joecool

Why do people assume that it’s God who offended us, not that we offend Him?

http://www.facebook.com/jrmedlocksfo Jason R. Medlock

Amen!

Phillip Stephens

Because god is a useless construct fabricated by man to explain things we didn’t understand during a time of great unease and ignorance.

Blanche

How can we offend something that doesn’t exist?

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, churches of all denominations claimed that the cholera pandemics were caused by “sin”, and called for “prayer, fasting, and humiliation” to somehow placate “God” and cause “God” to lift the pandemic. But guess what? We discovered that cholera is caused by a bacterium that is spread through sewage contamination. When we cleaned up the cities, the pandemics stopped. The church was wrong. It had *NOTHING* to do with “God.” And so it goes. “God” is meaningless twaddle that can only be applied to ignorance and fear. Grow up.

Sabrina

Serioulsy, Its in the bible! God is good and he has not any evil in him. Nothing is too big for God to handle. What makes you think the devil is? Be appreciative that he’ll still forgive your meaningless sins, thats why he sent Jesus to die for OUR sins. It’s history…

tired

I believe one reason I’ve struggled with Christianity is the “religion” aspect of it. Once you are saved it is expected of you to join a church for the rest of your natural existence. You do not have the freedom to move on without the Pastor’s blessing. Life itself is complex and demanding. Once you shift away from wanting to pursue other avenues besides God you get into trouble. Sorry, I have to get a better education and pursue my future to have a place to live and put food on the table. I can pray and ask God to help me with these things but I have to be willing to work hard even sacrifice “church services” to get things done. In a church organization everyone has different views and they try to put it on you also.

felix1999

You don’t need a Pastor’s blessing to go to another church. We need good Christians in the secular world too! I hope someone is not confusing you …

carla

Its one of the signs that we still live in a free nation. These traditional values and customs will continue to decline as women rights progress. In fact, women rights, and their tolerance of the status quo, is one of the best indicators tracking this transformation. The social contract is in the process of being completely rewritten. This new social contract will free men and women from the obligations of the past. God Bless America! : )

Getting married, having children, and going to church is no longer a selfless decision in todays world.

Ex devout Christian

People are leaving christianity because any rational mind would like things to make sense of things…simple as that. Unanswered contraditions drive away rational minded people. Take awau the name “God”, and replace it with, “LARRY”, it seems larry is a total tyrant

http://www.facebook.com/Zer0Sum Nicholas Larsen

Personally, i’m glad to see that christianity is declining. I believe that this will help churches realize that preaching hatred and intolerance towards minorities, profiteering from religion, and becoming involved with political and monetary power struggles is not a good way to earn trust with the majority of people.

Linda Moser

Young people question things. That is the #1 fundamental reason that they are turning away from Christianity. Questioning the sacred cow of Biblical Christianity is usually met with rebuke, or with a lack of any real answers that satisfy the inquiring young minds. Being told “you must believe in Jesus or you’ll die and go to hell”…that’s not enough of a reason to believe. If the things in the Bible cannot be verified, the truth of the entire book comes into question. Kids today cannot be frightened or bullied into believing, nor do they just believe whatever they’re gold. It’s a progression, not a decline. What will be the result of this? A more civil society. More honesty. More diversity. More accepting people for who they are. It’s not a bad thing at all.

Marina

“…believe whatever they’re gold.” Sorry, but that is the funniest typo I’ve ever seen! XD
Can you imagine? “Whatever, I’m still gold.”
Sorry, I know it was an accident :)

John

You are so right Linda

Etharzi Ors

You’re saying it’s an intellectual leap for Christianity?

Linda Iverson Moser

I’m saying that disregarding facts in favor of ‘faith’ is repression. Religion is man-made, that includes Christianity. I’m not going to worship something made by hands as fallible and foolish as mine.

justpassingby

“How can i worship something made by hands as fallible and foolish as mine?” But when I look around me, above me, under me, and within me, i can’t help but know that there is a greater entity. That god exists, and god my friend, does not have the same hands as us. We can’t create a universe so vast. And if we can’t create this world, then how can we say that it emerged out of nothing? I believe in one God, and yes I follow a certain faith- but that’s not important. I’m not going to tell people what to become. All I have to say is explore, if Christianity didn’t make sense to you, that doesn’t mean there is no god.

Blanche

justpassingby, you don’t “know” any of that. Knowledge is based on facts and actual information. Belief is in the same category as opinion. Here’s a shorthand: If it’s based on feeeeelings, it’s not knowledge – it’s belief. People a hundred years ago “knew” that illness was caused by the wrath of God, black magic, bad smells, evil spells, and even the Evil Eye! But now we all accept the germ theory of infection. Yes, it’s “just a theory.” When you become ill, do you do as instructed in James 5:13-16, to gather Christians together, pour oil upon the patient, and pray? We know for a fact that this is more likely to result in the patient’s death than non-religious medical treatment. It astonishes me that the theory of evolution draws more Christian ire than the germ theory of infection – this one is far more damaging to Christian theology and the Bible, as disease is throughout regarded as divine punishment. Now we know it’s just bacteria and viruses, for the most part, and we routinely defeat those with the products of scientific investigation. Christianity’s sphere of influence shrinks ever smaller…

Jack O’Scratch

You are deluding yourself. Your god is MAKE BELIEVE.

Rebecca

The problem is these people, make judgement without having read one page of the bible? That’s dismissive and ignorant. Before making drastic decisions, they should at least hear the story. But society does everything it can to discourage Christianity. The bible says, Christians WILL eventually be hated, and I think it’s what were starting to see unfold here.

Linda Iverson Moser

Rebecca, I have read the entire Bible, cover to cover. I’ve committed a great deal of it to memory and I can debate Bible knowledge with the best of them. I’ve studied to show myself approved. At some point I dared to question it all. When it just didn’t hold up to honest questioning, I had to keep what was worth keeping and discard the rest. Loving your neighbor and forgiving those who trespass against you are about the only things worth holding onto. Everything else is a fairy tale.

jeff

You don’t know half as much as you think you do.

Blanche

“But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.” – Jesus (Luke 19:27)

David Mitchell

Way to quote out of context.

Blanche

Linda, congratulations on your conclusions. Few Christians even know that nowhere in the Bible is there any basic statement of human rights – this alone, coupled with the fact that the Bible, from cover to cover, condones and accepts slavery as normative, is enough to disqualify Christianity from any claims of moral authority. Also, if you look at the parables attributed to the supposed “jesus”, you find that they mostly feature an all-powerful boss/owner/master/ruler who does whatever he wishes with the unfortunate employees/slaves/servants/underlings who for whatever reason (however trivial) displease him, including whipping them, cutting them into pieces, and killing them! Worldwide, democracy has replaced monarchy, but in the Gospels, monarchy is the only governmental system Jesus is capable of envisioning. Everybody who is not the ruler gets to submit, obey, sacrifice, and shut up. So long as Christianity was allowed to hold a monopoly, it did fine, but now that it can no longer terrorize and torture/execute those who don’t want to join, nobody’s joining. The writing’s on the wall – Christianity is obsolete, and we’re all the better for it.

Oh, and Rebecca? If Christians are being “hated”, it’s because they’ve behaved horribly. Really. Does it count as “persecution” if you have to behave like a total jerk to get some?

teller123

I can see that beyond reading the book you never bothered to research beyond that. I can start with the most blatant mistake here. Slavery. I have heard this over and over and over again from people that have done shallow at best, Bible study. Slavery 2000 years ago was not anything like the slavery we know in the United States. Many people in those days were slaves because of economics and chose to be such. They were not bought and sold like animals. If you want to understand these things you have to understand the culture at the time. And how about all those cities God had His people conquer? Do you know why? To understand it you have to understand Genesis 6. Christianity was not the murdering group it has been made out to be until the Roman Empire inserted themselves into it. Before that time Christians were not out slaughtering anyone-it was the other way around. Watch the RCC rise to power and claim once again to be ‘Christian’. They are anything but.

Jack O’Scratch

Blaming the catholics for everything again, I see. Believe what you want. The numbers will keep going down and down and down. Your religion is on life support and the plug will soon be pulled.

teller123

Absolutely correct. I turned away from Christianity a long time ago but I have come back. This is not something one can just read the book and say ah well it was a good book. I absolutely do not believe anyone that tells me they have done in depth study and make these comments that none of it can stand up to questioning. I can’t tell you how many people today start out wanting to discredit the Bible and end up stating just the opposite. Linda’s comment is not passing the smell test here at all. The more I study the more mind blowing all of this is. It’s incredible how much I did not know.

Jack O’Scratch

You are full of it. The bible has been conclusively disproved by science. It claims events that never happened. You believe ONLY because you want to believe. You want to believe because you are afraid of death. End of story.

Reason

God is good, except when gives kids bone cancer and their parents must go through that pain. 100 million people in the world are literally starving. Either he can stop this from happening or is incompetent.. It doesn’t make any sense.

felix1999

Sometimes things don’t make sense to us. Other times they do. I truly can’t think of anything sadder than burying a child or a baby. God has His reasons and He is not incompetent.

Often this kind of tragedy brings people together. I don’t know of any real Christian that has NOT had their faith tested in some way. When you look at the lives of martyrs and see what they have endured, you’ll understand that we don’t always know why. One thing is sure though, the people involved are being tested.

Blanche

The Christian God is a perfect example of an incompetent designer.

Laila Muhammad

bible ‘earth is a flat circle does not move 6000 yrs young noah flood worldwide’ v quran ‘earth is spherical moves in orbit no age given noah flood regional’ science confirms the latter….hence the bibleis seen as mistake-laden errant

Frederick D Boaz Chaudhry

Sorry to say that the American government worked on humanity only and that is why the Islam is increasing in many ways right or wrong and Christianity is declining. For this reason the religious leaders must play their roll in stressing the government that the flow of Islamic people has endangered the unity of USA.

felix1999

Obama favors Islam. Why is that a surprise? Our WH guest list is a list of who’s who of terrorism.

David Ramsey

Michael Snyder, you do a fine job of summarizing the symptoms, but what’s your analysis of the underlying causes?

When I got to the end of your well written article, I anticipated a section in which you were going to convey the reasons for the behaviors.

The commentators certainly have a gamut of opinions about the causes. But can you, Michael, offer some specific concrete explanations backed by empirical data?

GoHoyas

I never comment on these things but the end of your first paragraph is absolutely idiotic. Aside from just flat-out being wrong, you completely contradict yourself twice in two sentences.

For one, how can you possibly say “The United States was founded primarily by Christians that were seeking to escape religious persecution?” It is ridiculous that I even have to explain this but when the colonists came to America, their intentions were not to start a new country and escape religious persecution. They came here to colonize a new land and expand their empire. The reason we were founded is because the British started taxing colonists and they rebelled.

felix1999

Have you ever heard of the Pilgrims and the Separtists? They came here for FREEDOM OF RELIGION! They were being persecuted by the Catholic Church and others. The U.S. was affectionately called, ” the promised land”. I am sorry to see that you have been taught history sanitized from the truth.

Blanche

Are you unaware that the Puritans set up theocratic governments that forced everyone to attend church and that executed members of other religions (Quakers)? Are you aware that the Puritans had the police go house to house to drag anyone they found there to church? The Puritans were nasty, horrible, ignorant, hateful people, and we’re all fortunate that they went extinct.

Blanche

Actually, GoHoyas, the outrage that culminated in the Boston Tea Party was that the East India Company, which was in bed with the British crown, had finagled high taxes on the other importers so that it could enjoy a more favorable economic environment. So the Boston Tea Party was a protest against large corporations paying less taxes than everyone else. And what is today’s Tea Party supporting? Large corporations paying less taxes than everyone else! What morons!!

GoHoyas

“For those early settlers, the Christian faith was the very center of their lives, and it deeply affected the laws that they made and the governmental structures that they established. So what is the future of America going to look like if we totally reject the principles that this nation was founded on?”
For one, last I checked, only two of the ten commandments are even laws, don’t kill and don’t steal. Pretty obvious. And as you state, this country was founded on the principle of religious freedom so please explain how you could possibly justify saying that not more people choosing not to be Christian is “rejecting the principles” America was founded on? It is the embracing the principles this nation was founded on.
Why is Christianity in such steady decline? Because of articles like this, because of people like you, and most of all, because of people that buy this nonsense.

Help

The right wing haters have done a good job of fostering this decline.

DE Organic Church

16 Yahweh says, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, ‘Where is the good way?’ and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ 17 I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen!’ 18 Therefore hear, you nations, and know, congregation, what is among them. 19 Hear, earth! Behold, I will bring evil on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it. 20 To what purpose comes there to me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.” 21 Therefore Yahweh says, “Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people. The fathers and the sons together shall stumble against them. The neighbor and his friend shall perish.”
Jeremiah 6:16-21
World English Bible (WEB)

Mattea

I am so glad that Christianity is declining. I honestly can’t wait to see it go completely. Sure, there are some really nice Christians out there, but usually their religion is my least favorite thing about them. Just because I’m atheist doesn’t mean that I have no morals and I find it quite insulting that some people have that misconception.

Gail Gustin

I left Christianity when I was in my 30s (in the 1980s as it turned to the dark side.) I grew up in the civil rights era – in the north – when Christianity stood for equality, justice, and respect for all as well as helping your neighbor – no matter who. “Make love not war”. “Peace is the answer”.

Today it is no longer the case. Today, Christianity stands for inequality, injustice and intolerance for all who are different and morally inferior because they are not Christians. Christianity is far better known for its hate and intolerance than it is for its God or its Christ. How far it has come since televangelists and talk radio too the Christ out of Christianity.

Today, Christianity is a political party. Its members think that it is OK to insert Christian law into our secular democracy. They don’t understand the difference between standards for Christians and my right to set my own standards, even as so many fear other religious laws being imposed on them.

Imagine this scenario: Conservative (orthodox) Jews gain political power. They pass laws requiring you to sacrifice a living animal to God every week. Would you like it? Or imagine that my pacifist religion tried to outlaw your sacraments as Christianity outlawed mine? Or imagine a Satanist demanding that you respect in-school prayers to Satan in front of your children.

Christians are in a cultural “war”, where women MUST be deprived of the right to own their own bodies. How will forcing me into slavery make you a better christian? Homosexuals are accused of “choosing”, but I know of no straight person OR homosexual who remembers choosing what came so naturally. Only bisexuals CAN make a choice, yet the hate from Christians is intense because they are angry at God for making some of us different.

You CANNOT love the sinner but hate the sin. It’s not possible. How dare you judge sin AS sin? Jesus said” Judge Not”. How dare Christianity tell God what He may or may not think?

Jesus said: Judge not. Love your neighbor. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

Christianity has left Jesus behind. Here is how to prove it to yourself. Turn on your TV Sunday morning. Watch 4 or 5 different sermons in a row. Have a pen and paper ready. Write down every Bible verse mentioned. See how many weeks you have to do this before you hear Jesus being quoted directly, without being reinterpreted by a Paul quote.

Christianity has become a religion of hate and tyranny. I am grateful that it is dying out. It has been caught up in a great deception. It went to the dark side.

You may be interested in knowing that the science (quantum mechanics) that Christians hate when they hate New Agers, are parallel with the teachings of Jesus. They say the same thing. But Christians prefer Paul to Jesus. Paul taught the opposite of Jesus.

New Agers admire Jesus and follow his teachings without seeing him as the only begotten son of God. We understand that as we do to those we think of as the least, we do unto the Christ of which we ALL are. We live the teachings of Jesus.

FINALLY: Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. The whole theme of Christianity is “Damned are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of Satan – and we are superior to them”

Blanche

Christianity has earned a reputation as “anti-homosexual” above all else. And Christians will self-righteously point to a coupla verses that are anti-gay. But homosexuality wasn’t important enough to make it into the Ten Commandments, or for Jesus to say a single word about. Since the Bible accepts and condones slavery and does not include ANY basic statement of fundamental human rights, I think we can confidently reject it as primitive, savage, and irrelevant to modern realities.

Blanche

Excellent points, Gail Gustin. Thanks for posting that.

Kent Harris

The country’s rejection of Jesus Christ and the Bible over the past decade has also seen a decline in respect in other areas. Sin destroys and we are seeing it before our very eyes. Honestly, you see how corrupt our government is and this is a direct reflection on the American people. The Old Testament prophets warned Israel to repent and turn back and those same warnings apply today in America. Finally, we believe that God will never judge our nation which is a complete fallacy. If God judged Israel then the argument could be made that our nation will too. We have vastly more knowledge but we fail to grasp its meaning.

Blanche

Guess what, Kent Harris? The countries with fewer Christians and more atheists are more healthy than the countries with more Christians and fewer atheists. There have been many studies; all have reached the same conclusions. More Christians means more murder, more STDs, more drug addiction, more homelessness, and lower life expectancy. In fact, an increase of 10 years of life expectancy translates into a 15-17% drop in church attendance! If people can’t be kept poor, suffering, and desperate, they leave Christianity. Isn’t that interesting?

A Tough Boy

I think the decline is due to the environment these kids grow up in. What is seen on t.v, the internet ect. These kids have been fed a twisted definition of freedom and righteousness. To care only about money, getting otp and having sex. Im 21 and its all I see these days. Through media, they go through a sort of corrupt indoctrination, if you will. The bible say’s many people will fall away from faith, so this is nothing we don’t already know is going to happen. Prophecy IS being fulfilled, and is accurate of what is going on in our world climate today. They are all victim’s of deceit.

felix1999

Yes, A Tough Boy, YOU see things clearly.

Prophecy is happening right before our eyes. The spiritually discerned don’t see it. They don’t want to see it. They LIKE what they see. They see nothing wrong with the direction our culture is taking. They see BONDAGE to sin as FREEDOM! You are I are FREE and have things to look forward to!

“Unfortunately, the reality is that most Americans spend very little time thinking about religion or spiritual matters these days.”

I’m sorry but I just don’t agree with that. And I think the “numbers” to back it up reflect a biased question. I am part of the youth, and just because we don’t believe in a specific religious sect does not mean we aren’t spiritual. Religion and spirituality and two entirely different things and they should not be confused.

@Linda
Preach it sister, I like what you have to say.

Blanche

Missy, you may be long gone – you may not ever see this message, but you’re in good company. The Millennial generation, those born between 1980 and 2004, is the largest ever – 77+ million. By comparison, the Baby Boom was only 75+ million. But go into any church, and the generation least represented in the congregation is the Millennial. Stick a fork in the church – it’s done. Its dated and outdated teachings offer nothing that we need in a pluralistic, urban milieu where tolerance and acceptance are what’s needed above all. The young people of today are wise enough to see this – that’s why they steer well clear of churches, where congregations tend to be far more racist, intolerant, and bigoted than the population as a whole.

Blanche

felix1999, you apparently don’t realize that the Puritans who fled England to settle in the American colonies set up governments even more restrictive and punitive than the governments they had left. Look up the Puritans’ treatment of the Quakers, for example. They drove them out of town, whipped them, branded them – on the face! – and even executed them! Such Christian love! Christians are essentially selfish, believing that everyone need change to become more like them. How grotesquely self-involved! Our country was not founded on Biblical principles – fortunately. A Christian theocracy would be no better than a Muslim theocracy.

phil

I believe that people are being set free from the emotional, psychological conditioning that has gone on from hundreds of years. I believe people are becoming more spiritual which in turn produces loving people. The churches have failed to do this by focussing on their own agendas to build their own Kingdoms on earth. When in fact, the true church cannot be seen or touched, it is not made with human hands and God does not dwell in it. He dwells in people, the Kingdom of God is in people and they enter in spiritually and have no need of anything else.True many have stopped going to church but most people still believe in something better. That is the gift Christ Messiah offered to all. But instead we chose to go back into systematic dogma instead of entering into Christ, into the Kingdom, into the true church that cannot be seen and not made with human hands. That is available for all eternity if we set ourselves free from the desire of materialism which we are programmed to search and hunger after by clever companies and media .
True contentment is in Christ alone. So the decline may not be all you think it is but a gradual return to spirituality within and it is within you will find The Messiah Jesus Christ. What he achieved and the promises he made to those 1st century faithful ones assures all of mankind that their eternity is assured if we only enter in. So i would invite you all to seek what you cant see and then peace, joy and contentment will abound in peoples and nations and only through The Saving Grace of The Messiah can this be achieved
please check out youtube seekchristonly

Hunter

Two words: Good ridance.

Amy Frank

I was out of America for 10 years and when I came back I was surprized at the attitudes of the people. The attitudes made me leave the church for 20 years. However, I truely know Jesus is alive and I know that evil really exist. I wish God would let me know how to give these understandings to the American people.

Duncan

Why is it always assumed that not believing in the biblical story of God equates to not believing in God at all? That’s ridiculous.

I don’t know what the first cause is, or even if it is self aware. I just don’t know, and speaking for me, you don’t either. I can’t accept something from nothing, but I can accept not knowing.

How did I get here, why am I here, where am I going? Not a clue, and you know what, I don’t need answers to those questions. However, it is important to me, and those like me, to show respect and gratitude to the unknowable. The only way I can do that is to live an ethical life. Don’t always succeed in do so, but I try.

I rejected religion many, many years ago when I was young (1963), and haven’t regretted a single day since. As Linda alluded to in the first post- Question everything.

@fordtough803

Spirituality is the ONLY WAY OF LIFE! GOD is within each of all of us. We must raise our consciousness to activate or 3rd eye. All religions are bs corrupt devil worshippers control these manipulated religions. God didn’t send religion he sent the spirit.

have you read the bible? its full of lies, contradictions, slavery, rape, torture, killing … priest are raping little boys … what is there to like? the most significant information above is the fact that 52% believe it will grant them eternal life — i bet 99% of them are over the age of 60.

Ashish

so we can say we are in last days
.Love will slow down.
People will turn away from faith and tension will rise up in Israel and then the man of Lawlessness will be revealed who is Anti-Christ.
These will be days like noah

Nick Godfrey

JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN !!!!

Nick Godfrey

JESUS LIVE A PERFECT LIFE !!!!

Nick Godfrey

JESUS IS THE RISEN SAVIOR !!!!

Nick Godfrey

JESUS IS THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS !!!!

Ricky Dale Jordan

I believe that the dying out of Christianity is a great thing. It is high time that the myth comes to an end!

teller123

It could be due to the fact that the powers that be have hidden away much of the evidence supporting creation over evolution. Evolution these days is considered a solid proven concept and it’s nowhere close to that. I bet if you asked random people on the street they would think it’s been proven and it’s a done deal.

It could be that the pastors across this country are no long preaching the gospel. I am watching this closely and it seems to me that most people that claim to be Christians are anything but. They go to church and hear a feel good message AND it’s what they want to hear. Many people in this country do not want to hear God’s word. They have been lulled into this mindset that the Bible is outdated and gee we can’t say bad things about anyone because it’s not PC. Point in case homosexuality. No I don’t hate gay people but it’s a sin just like lying, just like murder, just like fornication, just like stealing and a whole long list of other things.
Many Christians have accepted the rapture teaching which I do not subscribe to. They think they are going to magically be taken off the planet as the end times unfold before our eyes.

If the Bible were taught as the completely mind blowing story it really is I think we would get the attention of the young people. One good place to start is to shut off the television and keep your kids from being completely controlled by technology. I see it everywhere I go in all age groups. People completely oblivious to anything going on around them. All focused entirely on their phone or I-pad. What a sad, sad group of people we have become.

Daniel

It was all predictied in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 3Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the APOSTASY comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction

We are in the Great falling away, everything is going according to plan. God is in command, and preparing the way.. And those same people can be described in 2 Timothy 3: 1-5 3 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

He’s coming very soon, not all of us are falling away.

Ridero

All right, all right…

If God does not exist, then why all scream “My God” when the plane is crashing?